How To Tame Your Volga
by saiyuri-dahlia
Summary: A collection of Volga/Link drabbles and short scenes. New chapters will most likely be posted randomly as time and inspiration permits. Requests and prompts are welcome.
1. Chapter 1

Story Series: How to Tame Your Volga

Disclaimer: Still don't own Hyrule Warriors.

Author's Notes: After I finished my Volink oneshot, I realized I still wanted to write for them. I'll probably update this randomly, depending on how long ideas last. Again, if there's a certain scene between Link and Volga anyone wishes to read, I'll be happy to write it. While the pairing will mainly be Volink, other characters are welcome to annoy Volga as well. As far as I'm aware, there shouldn't be any mature or explicit scenes. If one happens to show up, I'll just have to up the rating/give warning in that case.

As always, thanks for reading.

-o-

Drabble Title: There Is But One Rule

-o-

"Listen, my dragonkin," Volga shouted from atop an overhanging cliff above the sparring fields. The Lizalfos and Dinolfos took notice immediately, halting their battles and turning toward him ready to take orders.

It never took more than a shout to rally his kin to attention—it had taken the woman general sometimes three shouts to quiet and bring her men into line. Didn't surprise the dragon knight, humans were far slower and willful to match the efficiency and organization of his dragonkin. They were born to fight and march, biting and clawing seconds out of their shells, while the humans waited until their boys were deemed men to send them to academies to teach and train them into soldiers. It was a wonder to Volga how the humans had come to claim and control so much land. Then again, the humans rarely fought anyone else but their own kind and the humans were everywhere.

…There was even one traipsing about his land but at least this one had the dragon knight's permission to exist in his presence.

"I will only say this once!" Volga called out, his shouts reaching far across the sparring field without effort or vocal strain. "I have given the order to strike down any human that trespasses into our land but I must change this order. There is one human you must not harm. To do so means answering to my flames, is this understood?"

The Lizalfos and Dinolfos below were a little confused but they nonetheless nodded and screeched in obedient understanding.

"My word is absolute. No harm shall befall…this b—" As he looked to his side and then behind himself, he realized Link had not been standing beside him as he had been a second ago and had wandered off yet _again_.

It was a wonder none of his dragonkin had attacked and killed him by now. No doubt Volga would have heard the commotion if a battle was taking place on his land but still the boy did not need to be so unnecessarily impulsive, perhaps unthinking even with his life. Volga had wandered the Hyruleans' camps without fear because there was no one there who could so much as scratch his armor. Hero or not, Link did not have such invulnerability here in Volga's land. Chainmail, after all, was a poor shield to lava plumes.

His harsh scowl twitched in annoyance. He felt like backhanding the side of the boy's head with his dragon hand. When he found him, he was more than likely going to do just that.

He did not hit him when he found him. He was not far off but he had meandered out of view. Link's grin was much too wide and proud for his own good as he held up, of all things, a stick. He had found one of the white witch's tree branches and he was quite pleased with himself for finding it. He had been happily drawing pictures with it in the loose earth when Volga found him.

"Get over here!" Volga growled, grabbing him by the tunic and dragging him back to the edge of the ledge. "You stupid boy, drawing in the dirt! How you have not lost your head yet, I do not know!"

At the edge of the cliff, Volga grabbed Link by the back of his tunic and raised him up with one arm over his head in prominent view of his dragonkin.

"Do not harm this boy! He is not food!" Volga ordered, as he sneered in disgust at the sight of a much too chipper and calm Link grinning and waving both his arms in hello at the confused Lizalfos and Dinolfos below. If the dragonkin were capable of widening their eyes in disbelief, they would be gawking in shock. "If I find even a scratch, I will scorch the offender without trial! Am I heard?"

With little more than a few confused tilts of their reptilian heads here and there, the Lizalfos and Dinolfos hissed and roared back dutifully. Volga dismissed them soon after and the dragonkin resumed their tasks and spars.

Walking amongst his kin in the sparring fields, the dragon knight stood with his arms sternly crossed over his chest surveying their fights, measuring their martial prowess, and noting improvements. And though he was in his view, Volga pretended to ignore Link as the boy tried to skip rocks across a lava pool, frowning and stamping his feet in frustration as the rocks he tossed sank and melted in the molten earth.

"Master, if I may ask," one of the Lizalfos, its head bowed respectfully before him, asked in their kind's shrill, creaking voice as it approached him. "Why do you guard thiss human? You hate humans. Humans vile. Humans stupid."

"This human is different," Volga replied. "He is proud and strong like dragonkin and has earned my respect. Despite his humanity, he is worthy to stand beside us."

The Lizalfos paused and stared back at the dragon knight. It blinked its third vertical eyelid over his eyes before it said, "Master likes thiss stupid human?"

Disliking the sudden silence missing from Link's direction, Volga looked and saw a crouching Link slowly bring the stick he found toward the lava and flinch in surprise as the wood spontaneously caught fire. The boy gawked in amazement as he turned the stick about and watched the fire flicker and bob and grow as it bit by bit made its way toward his fingertips.

"Yes," Volga said matter-of-factly, scowling and groaning in exasperation. "…Yes, I do."


	2. Chapter 2

Story Series: How to Tame Your Volga

Disclaimer: Still don't own Hyrule Warriors.

Author's Notes: Inspired by the fact that it's cold where I live and there's been a snowstorm-in fact, it's snowing right now and I'm cold so why not some quick Volink? There's a popular headcanon and I've seen other Volga fics use this premise as well that Volga has a high body temperature, which would be nice if you were cold in a snowstorm right now. Stupid drafty houses...

As always, thanks for reading.

-o-

Drabble Title: A Warm Blanket

-o-

Volga smirked wickedly at the pathetic humans complaining of the cold as he stood barefoot in the snow in little more than his black underclothes and his arm and ankle bandage bindings. The sniveling soldiers stared at him in jealousy and bewilderment as they shivered and clanged in their frosty armor. Volga could open his flame reservoir and raise his body heat at will—how foolish the humans were to climb a blustery, brutal mountain with no means of withstanding the unrelenting cold!

How miserable they were sitting pressed against one another to conserve heat, huddling around fires. They sipped quickly-cooling cups of broth in the spitting sleet and snow. Their teeth chattered and lips quivered for conversation. And Volga watched from a sturdy, snowy ledge away from the humans with a dark smile and a steaming cup of broth.

He wondered how many of them would perish in the night. He certainly wouldn't. No, he would rise and fight without ache or frostbite in the morning. Only the strong would survive tonight and most of the royal whelp's men were weak and unworthy. It would be him and the boy left come dawn.

…Or Volga had thought so.

Cocooned in his military sleeping bag across from him, the boy shivered violently, his blankets rustling like treetops in a storm. Volga listened and sneered and turned over onto his other side. How pathetic…the Hero among the humans, their greatest warrior and champion shook and whimpered and clutched his covers so tightly his knuckles shone white in the moonlight. He was acting far more like a little boy than the dragon knight cared for.

_He is supposed to be brave and strong and exceptional in all regards to his kind_, Volga thought, frowning._ The Hero is not supposed to freeze to death in his sleep._

He heard him blow on his hands inside his covers. He had overheard among the fodder soldiers as they gawked in disbelief at his bare feet that frostbite started in the hands and feet first and if not tended to quickly, the fingers and toes were first to go. The dragon knight knew little of how to recognize frostbite, never needing to worry about it for himself nor did his dragonkin travel to cold lands but he did understand that without fingers, a sword could not be held and if he could not hold a sword, there would be no one worthy to challenge him.

_Foolish creatures, these humans are,_ Volga snorted harshly in derision as he rose off the ground, _and far too reliant on saviors._

He laid down beside his cocoon and wrapped his arm around him. Evidently startled, Link scrambled for an opening and poked his head out from his covers. He blinked in surprise as he saw it was Volga curling up against him.

"Your blanket rustling irritated me," he said, scowling.

Link grinned as he turned over toward him and buried himself in the curve of his neck, his nose resting against his Adam's apple. He entangled himself in his arms and legs and pressed against him as Volga opened his flame reservoir and spiked his body heat. The dragon knight blew his hot breath slowly over him. In time, between the warmth of his breath and body, Link's shivers disappeared. The pictograph of warmth and comfort, he lay peaceably in Volga's arms.

As time passed, Volga lay resting with his eyes closed. Feeling Link's hands stir and wander, Volga smirked without reopening his eyes.

"You're going to have to do more than warm your hands if you want to bury them there," he said, as Link slowly slid his hands away sheepishly.


	3. Chapter 3

Story Series: How to Tame Your Volga

Disclaimer: Still don't own Hyrule Warriors.

Author's Notes: Thanks indeed goes out to eudaemonics, Cyborgandroid, MissKainHearts, ZtheSOI, and DragonflyxParodies for reviewing.

I know it's been a while since the last drabble and I bet a few started thinking that two would be it but I haven't run out of ideas yet. It's more like I get weary working with the same characters after a while and need to jump around. I'm also backed up with several chapters for longer pieces I haven't updated in a long while and should actually be working on… But for several reasons, I haven't written much of anything for a long while now and drabbles are generally quick to finish.

As always, thanks for reading.

-o-

Drabble Title: Simple Pleasures

-o-

This probably wasn't a good idea. In fact, a lot of his friends and fellow soldiers would say this was a bad idea, a stupid idea, an insane idea. Link had asked Fi this morning on what she thought his chances were and she stared at him, her mostly emotionless blue face blank and still as she considered and weighed and checked her data and finally said that 'there was a 99.9 percent chance of an imminent, long-term hospitalization in his future should he carry out his proposed idea'.

But there was still that point one percent chance of something else happening and that was good enough for Link so he ran on deeper into the woods where Zelda's forces had made camp and climbed one of the trees to wait. It was deep into mid-day when he heard the flight of deer and birds and then not long after that the crackling stomps and the low, irritated, drawn-out groans of a ticked-off dragon knight trampling through the green with every intention of charring every twig, leaf, and blade of grass underfoot around him.

As soon as they were ordered to take shelter among the woods, Volga had plentifully and loudly made his hatred of forests known to everyone within earshot of him, so the entire Hyrulean army and all of its allied forces, the hawks soaring above, and the worms deep in the earth all listened resignedly to him. He found forests limiting to his battle style—after all, it was difficult to swing a pike around amid thick tree trunks and low, tangling branches and the brush offered too much cover for his enemies to cowardly hide and escape from him. He could neither easily transform into a dragon nor take flight in that form without some part of him, particularly his wings and tail, felling several trees around him that never seemed to fall anywhere else but on top of him.

Because of that, Link could understand why he was against coming and remaining in the forest but he also wondered why the dragon knight did not at least attempt to change his battle style to suit his surroundings and then Link realized he had answered his own question—Volga was Volga and if Volga could not run toward his foe and stomp it into the dirt, he set it on fire. Which now that Link thought about it, it wasn't so much his battle style than pretty much how Volga resolved all his problems.

"Come out, you stupid boy!" the dragon knight raged and sneered. "I will not tolerate your game of hide and seek. If you do not come out, I will scorch the forest to ash! The royal whelp will need none of your knowledge of living and fighting among the trees then, now won't she?"

Case in point.

Volga stamped about, his face seemingly permanently twisted into a snarl for the time being, as he sniffed the air and searched the trees. "…I smell you. You're nearby. Come on out."

Link walked and climbed from branch to branch, tree to tree. Even with the dragon knight's keen hearing and smell, he was silent and mostly invisible to him. Sure, Volga knew he was there but he wouldn't know where he was while Link could find Volga any time he wished. If he were armed and Volga still fought for Cia's forces, he already would have put an arrow through his head and could have done so several times over but Volga wasn't and Link would never now, though he thought about bouncing a pebble off his head, just to see him twist and fume about.

"Do not test me, boy. I will swear I will wring your neck," Volga growled low as he looked and stepped cautiously about. "I know you are there. I know you plan something. The amusement you seek is foolhardy and I am in no mood to play. Come down now and let us head back to base."

And Link did so, though not in the manner the dragon knight preferred or had intended. He sprung from the low bough directly behind the dragon knight and landed on Volga's back. Taken by surprise or, if nothing else, pissed off by Link's stupidity, Volga cursed and roared and thrashed about. He reached for him but never could get a tight enough hold on him to rip him off his back.

"Get off, boy!" Volga ordered as he tried to break Link's grip but the boy simply buried his hands deeper under his raised collar and found and grabbed hold of his chest plate straps. "I told you I'm not playing!"

Volga twisted from side to side and tried to swing Link off and nearly succeeded if Link hadn't wrapped his legs around Volga's waist and clung to him as if it would save his life and it probably was. Volga glowed red with anger and when Volga turned red, he left trails of dead bodies and smoldering keep ruins in his wake.

Fi was probably right (she usually was in the end) and he was probably about to spend a really, really long time in the hospital tent.

"This will be the first and last time you will climb on a dragon's back without paying your respects!" Volga said spitting fire as Link felt the soaring heat pour out from the dragon knight's skin and the rise of his dragon scales beneath his leather under-armor. Steam and heat vapor shimmered and blinded Link. He felt the shift and slide and stretch of Volga's body, the lengthening of his spine, the broadening and thickening of his muscles.

Spreading out his taut, leathery wings, cinders scattered and scorched the surrounding woods. Letting every creature and allied soldier (and hopefully not any enemy scouts) know of his presence, Volga roared, the force of his voice shaking the trees and bending back and breaking their thinner branches. He flapped his wings rapidly to gain swift loft and steadily rose into the air, rising and banging into tree branches with each foot of loft gained. Link pressed himself flat against Volga's back as twigs poked and scratched and snapped across his back. He felt a lot more sympathy for Volga's complaints earlier—those twigs did hurt after a while, especially if one managed to jab him real good in the side between his mid-ribs.

Bursting through the tree line and decapitating several tops of some very ancient pine trees, Volga left the forest below and soared higher and higher. Not feeling the stabs of twigs and scrape of pinecones any more, Link raised his head up and opened his eyes to mountaintops and sprawling forests as far as his bright eyes could see. He sat up and stared in awe and wonder at the blueness of the sky and at the swirling, churning white clouds drifting above them. He grinned and laughed with all his heart, though he could hear nothing over the wind blustering across his ears and only occasionally heard the deep boom of Volga's wings beating.

Well, he wasn't sure if he was actually hearing Volga's wing flaps or if he was feeling the force of his wings rise and fall and had simply imagined the sound. Riding on Volga's back in his dragon form wasn't that far off from riding Epona. There were some differences, of course—one being that he was riding bareback. That one was a given and would always be a given because not even if he wished on the Triforce could he convince Volga to let him put anything close to a saddle and reins on him, though the mental image made him snicker.

There was still the familiar shift and slide of working muscle bouncing him and a waft of body warmth heating his legs but while Epona was soft and smooth, Volga scraped and pricked his legs and a great heat radiated from in between every deep red scale. He had wondered and worried if Volga's plume of fire erupting between his sharply curved horns would burn him. He had crouched down and ducked away from his flames at first but then he gathered the courage to reach a hand out to it and discovered the fire behaved like fire but did not produce any heat nor did it burn his hand.

Water vapor wet his face as Volga cut through the clouds and the clouds scattered and disappeared and reformed themselves as they passed by. The sun was hot and bright and its light sparkled briefly inside the clouds before it burned away the rolling water vapor. Link twisted around and leaned to the side to see every inch of the world below him. In his travels, he had seen and walked across most of Hyrule already but he had never seen the land from above. Regardless of it being his destiny to do so, he wanted to protect this land. If it took his life to save it from Cia, from Ganondorf, he was happy to give it. Hyrule was beautiful.

-o-

Volga still hated forests, even through transforming into his dragon form in this forest hadn't been as much of a pain as it usually was. Besides, he was teaching the boy a lesson—that if you hop onto a dragon's back, be prepared to hold on for your life. The fact that the boy had been hinting and sometimes sweetly asked him to take him on a flight as he peered up at him with a face like that of a baby dog—Volga did not understand how Link's face was like a baby dog's but that was the human expression the insect child had said of that face so he supposed that was what it was—was beside the point. Volga was not giving in to him. This was a punishment, not a reward.

Not that the stupid boy had figured that out yet, as he beamed endlessly with joy and laughter as Volga soared across the mountains. He darted frantically around in a wasteful struggle to see everything all at once. It was as if he had never seen land before, despite having marched across every kind of land there was. On the ground or up above, the world was all the same to Volga and it didn't deserve such fanatical glee. No, a great lot of it deserved a final, pervasive scorching.

…Though he had to admit it wouldn't be so bad to live in the world the boy saw.

As the bottom of the sun touched the mountaintops, Volga turned back toward the base. Once they arrived, he circled the sky as he prepared to descend and land. A lot of the delay was due to the Hyrulean forces gathering below, many with their weapons drawn.

Deciding he cared not for their safety, he plunged down and though he righted himself and fluttered his wings to break his speed, he still landed with a burst of fire and wind and a thunderous shockwave. He felt Link fling forward and once he extinguished the fire, shifting into his human form as he did so, he saw that Link had rolled several feet away. He lay on his back on the ground. His eyes were closed. His concerned allies, some with shock and others with anger in their eyes, rushed toward him and made a protective half-circle around him. The fairy shrieked that she could not hear Link's voice. The royal whelp immediately kneeled beside Link and the sword spirit hovered close by and offered her assistance.

"Volga! What have you done?" Lana shouted, still reeling a bit in disbelief. Volga had seen eyes as dark and violent as hers. Cia's eyes always held such hate and vengeance.

"Nothing," he replied, raising his upper lip in disgust at the accusation. "The boy got what he always wanted."

"How could you say—" Ruto did not finish her words, instead she conjured and swelled a chopping, tumultuous wave behind her.

"Bastard!" Impa reached for her giant blade, as her fellow allies summoned their weapons. "This is unforgivable!"

Water chains swirled around Ruto as she held back a roaring wave at the ready. The Twili imp called her fused shadows into the light. The Goron simply raised his hammer, held it against his shoulders, and grinned. Only the insect child expressed hesitation toward the thunderhead of battle brewing but she too steeled herself to give herself for victory.

"Is this your righteous Hyrulean justice?" Volga said with absolute calm and an edge of smug superiority in his voice. Though he was in his full armor, he was without his pike, not that he was defenseless by any means. "And you claim I am the beast…"

"Silence!" Ruto ordered, eyes wild with rage. "Y-You…murderer!"

As Ruto slung a slap of water at him, Volga braced himself for the hit, if only to be able to claim that he was struck first. But long before the water ever came close to him, the sword spirit appeared before him and took the violent spray.

"I advise that you abstain from all hostile action until my analysis is complete," she said with the same detached monotone and limited emotion she gave whether offering her statistical calculation on the battlefield or providing a celebratory day of birth well-wish.

The royal whelp muttered to her gods and her hands began to glow gold with their blessing as the fairy frantically called out to Link to wake up. And before the royal whelp parted her hands from prayer, Link suddenly sat up, stopping a half-inch away from Zelda's wide-eyed and stunned face, and grinned manically. Equally as sudden, he stood up and raced off, laughing and still grinning maniacally with his arms spread out like wings.

The boy's slack-jawed allies stared collectively in silence.

"…He's okay?" Lana said.

"Physical scan is complete," Fi announced. "No injuries detected. In fact, analysis indicates an elevated state of extreme happiness." At that, Agitha leapt up and cheered in joy at the good news.

"Ha ha!" Darunia set down his hammer and smacked his knee. "The boy's more tickled pink than our young'uns on the first day of the prime rock sirloin harvest."

Shoulders slumped forward in astonishment and shame, Ruto lost her focus and her wave rolled forward and washed over Midna.

The imp sputtered, spat water, and thrashed through the waterfall. "Hey, watch it!" she fired back at Ruto as she drifted back into the air and looked far too much like a grumpy wet cat.

"What can I say?" Volga replied, sporting his usual harsh frown. "The boy is a simple-minded fool who takes pleasure in the stupidest little things."

The dragon knight turned and walked away, caring and needing not to hear their pathetic apologies. As he walked through the base, he watched Hyrulean soldiers stare in bewilderment at one another as they whispered amongst themselves whether or not their Hero had gone mad. Volga knew madness. He had been forced to serve madness and felt himself lose himself to madness. Link wasn't mad. He was a happy idiot.

As he saw Link, his level of absolute joy and bubbly laughter unchanged, jump over a supply crate and flap his outstretched arms like wings and perhaps even heard him roar, Volga briefly wore the slightest and smallest of smiles.


	4. Chapter 4

Story Series: How to Tame Your Volga

Disclaimer: Still don't own Hyrule Warriors.

Author's Notes: Volga is a dragon knight, not Solid Snake. Also I cannot be convinced that this would not have happened just like this in game if Volga had ever joined Zelda's forces.

Thanks to DrBananaFace for reviewing the last chapter. As always, thanks for reading.

-o-

Drabble Title: What Is Stealth?

-o-

Link put away the rest of his weapons—they were far too showy and would weigh him unnecessarily down. He would bring a sword and shield to defend himself but if everything went well and according to Zelda's plan, they would see very little combat tonight. He changed out of his green tunic and put on the black tunic and boots Impa had issued him for this mission. Though he knew that black would shroud him in the desert night better than green, he looked far too much like one of Cia's Dark clones for his liking. He paused as he wrapped his scarf around his shoulders and wondered if his scarf would be too visible even late into the night. It was quite a brilliant blue…

"Ah, you are preparing for battle," Volga said, slipping past the tent flap and stepping into the soldiers' quarters. "I shall prepare for battle too."

Facing away from the dragon knight, Link's eyes widened in shock and panic. He put on a twitchy, forced smile and turned around. Lightly shaking his head no, he raised his hands and waved them in a no-need-to-do-that manner.

His eyebrows pinched, Volga shot him a hard, questioning stare. Link kept his smile in an attempt to placate the dragon knight so not to raise his suspicions further. Rising up onto his tiptoes, Link rubbed his hands along Volga's shoulders. He tapped a hand on the dragon knight's collarbone and then pointed down at the tent grounds.

"Hmp, I shall not remain," Volga insisted. "We fight as one."

As he turned away and looked toward his armor, Link frantically waved his raised hands to grab his attention once more. He heard the low rumble in Volga's throat as he turned back to see what the hell he wanted now and watched him as Link pressed his left fist against his forehead.

"Your…princess?" Ever since Impa took great offense to Volga calling Zelda 'the royal whelp' to her face, Volga was trying to find a less offensive term because Link had asked him to. He still paused as if he was swallowing back a measure of bile. The royal whelp just seemed to roll off easier from his tongue. "She has enlisted you on a mission?"

Link smiled and nodded and pointed at himself readily. He was so happy and relived that Volga understood.

"Let her know that I will be accompanying you," Volga said and once again made his way toward his armor.

Panic struck Link and he hurried to Volga and grabbed onto his arm. He pleaded with Volga to stay at base.

"Do not worry, little dragon," Volga said rather softly, wearing an amusing smirk as he brushed his bare knuckles along Link's jaw line. He opened his hand as he reached Link's ear and swept his hand through his hair. "No battlefield is a challenge to me and I will always fight beside you. Our enemies shall know fear and death as two great dragons descend upon them."

Volga patted Link's shoulder before giving him a good but violently enthusiastic shake. Link wanted to stop him, wanted to tell him no and that he had to stay here but the dragon knight's eyes were bright and his grin was far too wide and showed too much fang. Volga was ready to fight and he was going to fight. Link met his battle-eager face with his own forced, supportive smile while, unbeknownst to his dragon knight, he groaned and cursed with dread in his mind.

-o-

Changed and ready and walking up the agreed meeting point on a nearby cliff overlooking the enemy base with Volga in tow, Link knew things were going to go bad. He was going to get yelled at and it was going to be his fault that Volga came with him, even though he hadn't said a word to him about the mission and Volga had prepared because he had seen Link prepare and how was he supposed to know that he should've changed in super secret…

He should have known that if Volga saw him getting ready that he was going to get ready for battle too, they would tell him. And because of his little stupid mistake the whole mission was in risk. No, no, not in risk. It was downright screwed.

"Hey, Link's here," Lana called out, hopping from her rock perch. "Took you long…enough…" Her perky voice faded out as she saw Volga.

Impa marched from her observation post, her frown and arms equally tense and crossed. "What is he doing here?" She did not so much as ask as demand to know. "Volga, I order you to return and remain at base."

"You order?" Volga said, lifting an eyebrow and laughing at her. "Until you have bested me, I will obey no command of yours unless it suits me. I will fight."

Impa and Volga locked eyes with the dragon knight baring his fangs and the Sheikah general glowering at his disrespect. Their icy and fiery natures crackled and clashed.

Seemingly appearing straight from the shadows, Sheik stepped into the dim, flickering lantern light. "This mission will not suit your specialty," she said, ever calm. "You will not be able to showcase your great strength to its most magnificent extent."

Perhaps flattered by her praise or perhaps pleased to hear someone recognize his superiority, Volga smirked. "How so?"

"This mission requires a great deal of stealth," Sheik explained.

Volga turned his head slightly to the side, flared his nostrils, and blinked. He seemed thrown by the very unfamiliar word. "What is stealth?"

"You have to be quiet. You have to say nothing, walk slow and carefully with deliberate thought and precision in your step. You have to remain hidden and blend with your environment," Impa said. "You have to be everything you're not."

Volga took a step toward Impa and growled. "This stealth sounds like cowardice. Fitting for you Sheikah to hide and cower and crawl on your bellies but it is dishonorable for any true warrior. The boy and I shall fight while you three remain hidden all you want." Volga stood tall and proud in his red armor, brilliant even in the dim light, and laid a hand on Link's shoulder. He remained oblivious to Link's cringing and discomfort and did not see him mouth, "I'm sorry" to his allies.

"Link was assigned to this mission," Lana said.

"Unlike you," Impa added. "So return to base, Volga. This mission does not concern you."

Volga grunted defiantly and scowled but he did not leave.

"Hurry now," Sheik said. "We have but a small window of time in which to succeed. We all know the plan but I have a small adjustment to announce. Instead of the first team consisting of myself and Impa as my cover, I will instead proceed alone first and provide distraction and blinders if need be. After three minutes, Impa will follow with Lana from our original first team entry point and Link will make entry from our second entry point two minutes from that. Am I under—where is Volga?"

They soon had their answer as a plume of fire shot into and lit up the night from the valley below. The four raced to the edge of the cliff and watched in despair and disbelief as Volga slashed and rapidly spun his pike as he leapt up into the air and drove its blade into the desert earth, exploding with a fiery shockwave and sending the swelling, surrounding, marching army of bokoblins, moblins, and stalmasters flying. Every searchlight at the enemy base shined down on him and the base shrieked and blared with intruder alarms. No doubt Ghirahim was well aware of his visit.

But above all that commotion, Volga laughed in maniacal glee and shouted "FIGHT ME!" at the very top of his lungs.

While Sheik and Lana simply stared at Volga, Impa cursed his stupidity and Link slammed his palm against his forehead and bowed his head in shame and apology.

-o-

The four stumbled back to the allied base as the sun began to warm the horizon. None were gravely injured but all were scratched and bruised and crushed and stabbed and in need of red potion and rest. Their mission had succeeded—Fi and Darunia were returned to them and Ghirahim had fled but there was no doubt that the vast majority of their rescue team was ready to kill Volga. Lana's fixed glare was particularly reminiscent of Cia.

"You look so glum, little dragon," Volga looked over his shoulder at Link as he pulled back the tent flap to one of the quarters' tents. It was empty since all the soldiers were already up and about for morning patrol. "You should be proud and rejoice! We fought like true warriors! The desert sand is stained red with the blood of your enemies. You need no _stealth_ when you are strong like dragonkin!"

Volga grinned as he kneeled down and began unbinding his leg guards after quickly removing the rest of his armor. Though he was tired and ached, as he snuck up behind the dragon knight, Link suddenly had a spark of energy arc through his body, giving his back the strength to stand straight and tall and his arms the power to shake off their weariness. With this burst of rage, he clocked the dragon knight squarely on the back of his proud head.


	5. Chapter 5

Story Series: How to Tame Your Volga

Disclaimer: Still don't own Hyrule Warriors.

Author's Notes: Thanks to MissQuestions-LaAmazingNabo, Guest, Melkor'sOnlyLieutenant, and Joemon8 for reviewing.

For anyone wondering, the Groose in this story isn't the one from Skyward Sword. He's an alternate universe's distant ancestor. And really, he's just a prop character that gives me the chance to reference Grooseland.

In which the moment an idiot learns how absolutely, utterly, royally, fatally screwed he is, it's too late. Also, somehow, the ending took a darker detour with Zelda congratulating Volga than I had ever envisioned. I suppose there's a part of me that thinks Zelda is far more calculating and willing to do what is best and needed for Hyrule and is not so much the epitome of righteousness and pure goodness.

More I reconsider it, for all its intended humor, this drabble is rather dark… As always, thanks for reading.

-o-

Drabble Title: Treasure Hurting, or The Rise and Fall of the Great Kingdom of Grooseland

-o-

Looking like a living gibdo, Link was bound entirely from his shoulders to toes in rope as he was placed on his knees and bent forward, his head placed on a tree stump discolored with old, dried blood. He tried to raise up and peer over his shoulder and express reconsideration but the leader of the outlaws, bandits, ruffians, con men and generally no-good bad men stepped his boot into Link's face and stomped his head right back down onto the chopping block.

"Your pretty, pretty princess has abandoned you, boy." A man even shorter than Link with two giant orange pompadours curved like twisted devil horns jutting out from his forehead leaned down and smirked victoriously. "She ain't coming for you and you know what that means, don't you, _Hero_?"

He chuckled deep in his throat as he took his sandblasted boot off Link's face. The tiny man strutted proudly back and forth between Link and the executioner shrouded in a motley-colored patchwork shroud stitched together from all sorts of stained rags and scraps from clothes and blankets and a few jester's costumes. Link could almost think of it as the worst ghost costume ever and smile at the man if it wasn't for the giant, gleaming ax blade he was steadily sharpening in his lap.

"Rather insultin' that Hyrule's precious princess sends her baby brother and his toys to whip us into line and won't even come to pick him back up," he spoke to his equally motley crew of mean-faced thugs. "The mighty kingdom of Hyrule wants order and rule but we kinda like the chaos around here, don't we, fellas?"

His men grinned and laughed and hollered in agreement.

"Besides, you aren't in Hyrule no more. You see, we took this land, it's ours now, and you and the High Highness and her merry marching men don't have any say here. I make the rules and I say that you bein' here and telling us what to do, well, that's a crime against the kingdom. So we're gonna chop your head off and when the princess comes, we'll chop her head off and then all this will be Grooseland."

As their leader raised his arms toward the sky and crowed triumphantly, his men gave another raucous cheer and pumped their fists into the sky as they chanted their tiny leader's name, "Groose! Groose!" over and over. Victory was to be had and already won as far as the outlaws were concerned.

Link wasn't sure if they knew how large Hyrule's army was, though word was reaching across the land that most of Hyrule's elite soldiers had been slaughtered and the Queen's army was reduced to rookies, trainees, allied forces and a secret circle of allies. Far as Link had seen there was only a platoon and half of outlaws in the town and he could take down that many men with one great spin attack. Zelda and their allies could too. If it wasn't for his kind heart and the fact he didn't think it would really be a peace-keeping mission if he had killed everyone, he wouldn't have ended up hog-tied and on the gallows.

He hoped nothing had happened to Proxi along the way, that she had reached Zelda in time.

"Shut up already! How can I intimidate if the runt can't hear me?" the miniature man with a surprisingly full-sized voice shouted over his shoulder and flinched in shock as he saw his men's celebratory ruckus had already died away. There was a rumble in the air. It had started low, like a faint echo of thunder from a distant storm, but the roar had been building and building and Link could feel the earth shaking beneath him.

"Eh? What the hell is that noise then?" the man wondered aloud, turning from side to side in search of the sound.

He swiftly had his answer as the great wooden doors of the outlaw town's surrounding gate burst open and into flames, the stone walls blackening and the thin metal braces turning red and melting in the great heat. Bringing his big, armored boot down, Volga saw the crowd, saw the blade, saw Link tied up all at once and he did not like what he saw.

Fangs bared, Volga threw back his head and _roared_, the air sparking and crackling and blurred from clashing waves of heat vapor and the wrath and ferocity of his war cry, nearby carts and fluttering banners spontaneously catching fire. Volga turned red, his battle aura blinding and overwhelming as it spread out from his shoulders into blazing wings. Volga locked eyes with his kill and charged.

-o-

Out of the rubble and ash, Volga walked through the billowing smoke clouds and glowing embers and kicked up and crunched blackened bones and bodies. Superheated blades snapped apart from their own weight as easily as they had in the dragon knight's presence and what little armor these vermin possessed had melted on their skin, the stronger metals cooking them alive before hitting their melting point.

These villainous men spoken of by the Hyrulean forces as cruel and relentless, the terror of the entire province crushing the townsfolk and slaughtering the local law, turned tail and fled at the first rumble of his roar. Cowards, all of them were cowards, even the few that held up a weapon at him in their limp wrists. How the hell the boy managed to be overpowered and tied up by these…Volga took a breath, held it, and then released a long, hazy wisp of smoke. He decided he didn't want to know the stupid reason because he knew it was a really stupid reason. And it involved food more than likely.

He found him inchworming and rocking and rolling himself over to the ax blade of that unfortunate bastard in a ratty sheet that had burst into flames within feet of Volga's aura. Seeing him, Link smiled as he wiggled and tossed his head toward the axe in clear sign that he wished to be freed. Volga gave a bullish snort and made his way over to him. He leaned down and picked up, not the axe, but a band of rope and headed on through the ruins, dragging Link along through the dirt and ash. He heard him bark in protest and ignored him.

_Who the hell sends a mute on a diplomatic mission anyway…_Volga grumbled to himself and scowled as Link pouted and gritted his teeth every once in a while as the dragon knight dragged him over yet another rock.

-o-

"If we attacked from the west—" a panicked Lana hurriedly suggested, silenced immediately by Impa shaking her head in disapproval.

"The caves are infested with King Dodongo," the Sheikah general replied. Much as she kept up her calm mask, there was an edge of impatience born of worry growing in her voice and breaking across her face but was none more evident in the way she tapped her nails against her tightly crossed arms. "We wouldn't make it pass the tunnels."

"Arrugh! Any direction we take is too treacherous!" Darunia growled, slamming his fists together in frustration. "Let's pick one and go!"

"In that case, we have the most probability of success by advancing from the northern waterfalls," Fi calmly suggested to the princess, still locked in thought as she looked over the map of the region.

"But the waterfalls look awfully far…" Agitha said, with a bit of a whine in her worried voice. "Will we have enough time?" She looked over at Midna next to her as the floating Twili imp stared down at the floor and snarled in uncertainty, unable to answer the young girl.

A ball of distress, Proxi fluttered wildly about, "Well, we have to do something! Or Link will be…"

He landed on the table, crinkling the map as he slid forward a bit. He looked up and grinned at Zelda, wide-eyed and arms raised at chest-height in surprise. His allies and friends called out in shock and then in joy to see their young comrade safe and returned to them, albeit tied up.

"If you still wish to dither and prattle on about how to go about rescuing the boy, by all means…" Volga said from the tent flap. He scowled in disappointment at seeing the Hyrulean forces still assembled around the round table. "It will do you just as much good."

"_Arrogant_…" Impa snarled and took a step forward, immediately backtracking and respectfully silencing herself as her princess and commander stepped out in front of her.

"Thank you, Volga. I commend you for your bravery and skill and am grateful to you for saving Link. Hyrule is privileged to have your service," Zelda said, laying her hand on her heart and offering the dragon knight a brief polite bow, as Link's allies worked on untying the plentiful and surprisingly tight knots and hacked away at the strong rope around him.

Needing and caring not for her praise, Volga looked away and sneered. Something in the way she had bowed to him still riled him. It seemed almost mocking. His sudden realization as to why stirred his flame reservoir.

"You expected me to save him," he growled low as Link squirmed and shouted in protest through his allies' teasing and laughter as Lana summoned Manhandla stalks to help chew through the rope to free him. "You relied on it so you could obtain your desired outcome and place the fewest lives in danger. You even shielded the boy from suffering an internal conflict toward raising his sword to civilians by shifting the task to me. And yes, immoral and hostile to the public as I imagine they were, those men were not soldiers. All has come to pass as you orchestrated, for the betterment of Hyrule."

"To rush headlong without fear or hesitation into any battle, any odds, even at the risk of one's life, defines devotion," Zelda replied, a far too intensely all-knowing look in her eyes and in her smile. "It is good to know that Link has such a partner-in-arms."

Volga turned away and stormed from the tent. He didn't know whether or not to feel incensed by her cunning or admire her tactical genius. Volga knew well that the art of war required not only broad, sweeping strokes across the battlefield but also tiny, precise strikes and the shrewdness and selectiveness to know which tool was best, which kind of stroke to make, and where to make its deepest mark. Still, the dragon knight by no means wished to be used.

_I care not for these humans or what is best for them. I care only for the boy,_ Volga stomped through the allied camp as soldiers quickly found need to be elsewhere. _A dragon will not bow nor will it be tamed by anything, much less a human. I am loyal to myself and I fight for only what I deem worthy of my interest. I will burn Hyrule if need be. I will not be its weapon!_

He heard Link calling to him but refused to slow his stride. The boy could run and he did run and just as quickly caught up with him. Volga noticed a few rope burns and chomp marks but otherwise he was fine. It was hard to believe that a few hours ago he had been moments away from losing his head.

"So you are free now," Volga said and Link nodded cheerfully. "I much preferred you bound. You are far more manageable that way."

At Volga's smirk, Link briefly stuck his tongue out and then returned the smile. As he readily walked beside Volga, he clasped his hands behind his back and grinned far too brightly.

Volga frowned and said sourly, "Do what you will and leave me be."

With a quick sprint and turn to get in front of him, Link hopped up and wrapped his arms around Volga's neck. The dragon knight grumbled low in his throat as Link nuzzled his cheek into his breastplate. Far from the camp and out in the open plains, they were thankfully far from anyone's view.

"Yes, yes, you're welcome," he said, his voice and stare absolutely dry and deadpan. "I am pleased that you are safe and unharmed. Now get down."

At his second sharper order, Link shook his head no and obstinately pressed his cheek to his chest and tightened his grip.

"I am not going to hug you," Volga asserted.

Staring the dragon knight down, Link puffed out his cheeks in annoyance and pushed out his bottom lip in a deep pout.

"No," Volga replied and continued walking as Link stubbornly held on and dangled from his neck like a decorated medal of honor.


	6. Chapter 6

Story Series: How to Tame Your Volga

Disclaimer: Still don't own Hyrule Warriors.

Author's Notes: Thanks to DrBananaFace, Melkor'sOnlyLieutenant, MissKainHearts, grandshadowseal, SlayersFan132, and SakuraSunset68 for reviewing.

This is more than likely assuming that Volga is older than he looks by a few hundred or thousands of years. Also, as a warning, there is a possible overabundance of sweetness and cuteness overflowing from this chapter. I admit to adding extra parts just because it sounded cute to me and of lately for me, a little bit of cuteness would be quite nice.

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how one wants to look at it, the added parts made this story close to 6,000 words so I decided to half it and post the first half while I'm still working on the last scene, plus there is a bonus what-if side-story reversing the scenario for Link and Volga. It was basically too cute a switch not to do. But it's kind of like I have a short series with a series now…

I keep calling these chapters drabbles even though I know that by definition and word count, these aren't drabbles, they're chapters and short scenes. Technically, I have yet to write a drabble in this series. But I keep using that word… I wonder how many people I keep annoying... Anyway, as always, thanks for reading.

-o-

Drabble Title: Raise Him Right, Part One

-o-

From the steps of the temple ruins, Link looked back at the explosion, clenched his teeth in worry, and wondered if Volga had destroyed the bombchu in time. There couldn't have been any more than ten seconds left before it would detonate when Volga raced to head it off at the pass. Maybe he had reached it, but the blast seemed awfully close to the east temple keep.

"Go on," Impa called from a higher step. "I can hold the line."

Link nodded and raced off, taking out the enemy outpost guard along the way. As he drew closer to where the bombchu once was, he saw, to his amazement, a patch of lush green grass and wild flowers covering the desert ground. He also noticed that the bombchu's explosion had taken out a massive chunk of the desert gorge and the avalanche of now moss-covered rocks blocked all passage to east temple and the right side entrance to the Temple of Souls.

Fi and her small band of troops were already there—many were hurriedly clearing away rocks to save their trapped brethren below while the rest, including Fi, defended the impromptu rescue crews from enemy soldiers capitalizing on their lack of guard.

"Master, I detect the presence of an activated Timeshift Stone," Fi said. "Please take caution before entering the barrier."

He felt his Triforce flash briefly with power as he walked onto the grass. Proxi flew over the rockslide as Link searched along the front. Neither had seen any sign of Volga nor had Fi and her troops. Fi could not even detect his presence, no matter if she dowsed for his fire magic or heat signature. Switching immediately to his gauntlets, Link climbed the mound of collapsed rock and began tossing boulders away.

"Link, they…" Proxi shouted as the fairy flew as fast as she could back to Link. Once she reached him, she bobbed frantically above the hole he had dug accidentally in his panic. "We found his armor. But just his armor," she said, confused, as soon as he climbed out of the earth.

It didn't make any sense to him as to how they only found his armor and he was just as confused as his fairy companion, but Link hurried behind Proxi's lead to see exactly what may or may not be left of the dragon knight. True to her story, all that was found of Volga was his armor.

"We found his spear as well but we can't figure out where he might have gone," a captain said as Link kneeled in the grass beside Volga's armor. "The odd thing is that none of his armor bindings are loose."

Picking up his chest plate, Link saw that the belts and clasps securing his armor were indeed still locked together. He couldn't think of how but somehow Volga had gotten out or been taken out of his armor without actually removing it. As he tilted his chest armor up a little more, Link heard hissing coming from inside.

"I heard that too!" Proxi said in agreement and flew into Volga's chest armor, only to immediately fly right back out, screaming for something not to eat her.

Much to his fairy companion's urging that he not do it, she switched to warning him to be careful once she saw that he was going to stick his sword arm in anyway. Link felt something very warm and growing warmer claw itself into his arm guard and bite into his upper arm, luckily protected there by his tunic and chainmail.

As he drew his left arm out from the dragon knight's chest armor, Link and the surrounding soldiers were astounded to see that it was a very young red dragon wrapped tightly from neck to tail around his arm. Its beaklike mouth was still pinching his upper arm as it growled as deeply as it could, letting everyone but especially Link know that it was very fierce.

"Ah, I have located a match," Fi said, as she turned and glided over toward Link. "I can now say with ninety-eight percent accuracy that the activated Timeshift Stone has regressed Volga to an infant state. To restore him to his present age and form, you need only to remove him from the barrier."

While that was good to know, Link wasn't in a rush necessarily to change Volga back, now that he knew where he was and that he was unharmed. The tiny dragon carefully unwrapped himself from Link's arm and perched on his arm guard. Spreading out his leathery, bat-like wings, Volga raised his arms into the air and growled.

"He is attempting to intimidate you," Fi said, giving a small smile.

Link grinned and then growled back at Volga. As the little, unafraid dragon leaned in toward him to prove he was not scared of anyone bigger than him, Link breathed in and blew a quick puff of air into his face. The little dragon squeaked as he flinched and reeled back at the surprise. As Link brought his arm closer to his body, Volga was quick to lean toward him again, tipping his head from side to side and chirping in curiosity. Link blew another puff of air at him, making Volga blink.

Perhaps in caution and expecting another puff of air, his third eyelid took a second longer to slide away when he reopened his eyes. Volga stood up onto the points of his claws and raised up, staring at Link's tightly closed mouth with fascination. Link slowly pushed the tip of his tongue out, inciting a happy squeak out of the little dragon as Volga's beak snatched at his tongue. Link just managed to hide his tongue back behind his closed lips before Volga could pinch it. He smiled, still tightlipped, as Volga patted a clawed hand on his mouth and gave a creaky, confused, where-did-it-go trill.

Nearly enveloping the little dragon completely, Link hugged Volga and laughed as he creaked in confusion and stuck his snout into his hair. Proxi fluttered over, said something about little Volga being kind of sweet, and then flew away screaming in panic as Volga lunged and snapped his beak at her. Volga gave chase, scurrying up Link's arm all the way up to his shoulders. He tried climbing on top of Link's head but there wasn't any room for him and no place for his claws to grip onto. He stood on the very tip of his claws on Link's shoulders, pressed his hands down on Link's head, and stretched out as far as he could but Proxi flew away from Link and far out of the little dragon's reach.

Link tried not to laugh—it especially would not have been funny if Volga had hurt or even ate Proxi—but after watching him get all excited and bright-eyed and seeing him run up his arm and holding onto Volga to balance him as he tried to stand on his head, Link couldn't help but smile a little. Grabbing him and taking him off his shoulders, with Volga making several curious clicking sounds as he removed him, Link gently folded back his partially opened wings and held him in his arms. No longer fighting or trying to intimidate him, Volga laid calmly and stared up at him. Proxi was right. He did look kind of sweet-looking, for an ornery little lizard.

Link nuzzled his jaw against one of Volga's tiny horns, as the little dragon cooed. Their short moment of affection soon gave way to pain as the little dragon raised his head up and swiftly, sharply nipped Link's cheek. Link gritted his teeth and hissed in pain as he jerked away. He glared down at a smiling Volga in reprimand and shook his head no.

Quite pleased with himself, Volga laughed, his head bobbing up and down and his throat muscles visibly drawing in and out as he made an odd gulping, honking noise, sounding kind of like a pelican or a goose cry. Wide-eyed in absolute shock at the downright funniest sound he had ever heard (and never expected to hear out of Volga at any age), he broke out into a fit of laughter, all of his anger and will to reprimand him gone in that instant.

Even though Link did kind of wish Volga could stay little so he could play with him more for a little while longer, there was still a battle going on and it was better for the both of them to return to the field. Link stepped out of the barrier and braced himself for the little dragon's sudden growth spurt. Volga did not change.

"Master, I believe that I am sharing the emotion known as surprise alongside you," Fi said. "I did not foresee this happening. I regretfully lack sufficient data to provide you with an explanation or a possible alternate course of action."

If Fi didn't know what to do, then Link definitely did not know what to do. After helping Fi rescue the rest of their troops, she and Link returned to the allied base with Volga, standing happily on Link's shoulders and looking around from side to side. Even as a baby, Volga seemed to like taking guard from high places and the highest he could get standing on Link was his head and shoulders.

With their battle apparently won and their troops quickly readying to march to a safe location to rest, their celebration of their victory was quickly cut short and replaced by confused looks and bewildered, scrunched up faces at the news and sight of Volga scaly and pint-sized. Fi explained what had happened and what didn't happen and that as far as she could determine, there was not currently a known solution to restoring Volga to his rightful age and form.

"This is just…bizarre," Ruto said as Link set Volga down on the desert earth.

Quite happy and eager to meet the tiny dragon, Agitha immediately tried to pet him—somehow she believed he was a duck—and Volga tried to intimidate her by standing up on his hind legs, opening his wings, and hissing at her just as he had done to Link. He only stopped hissing when he squeaked in shock and fell back in surprise when Agitha quickly opened and closed her parasol. While he was preoccupied with figuring out the strange, growing and shrinking creature in her other hand, Agitha giggled and petted the flaming tuft on the top of his head. The fire did not burn her.

"But he should have changed back once he left the barrier," Lana said, flipping through her sorceress's tome for possible answers. "This is bizarre."

"He's going to need to be watched constantly," Impa told Link. From her fixed, level stare and equally cool and level voice, Link got the impression that the Sheikah general wasn't exactly thrilled that Volga had been de-aged but she was ready to deal with the annoyance. "Baby or not, men are going to want to kill him, for glory and in fear."

"And face it, Volga's only a threat to the bug kingdom now," Midna said, smirking, as she appeared and hovered by Link's shoulder. Leaning against him, she tapped his shoulder to get his attention and pointed over at Agitha trying to pull the open bug jar off Volga's snout before he ate the goddess butterfly at the bottom of the jar.

"No, li'l duckie!" Agitha shouted, as Volga, his breath fogging up the jar, snapped his beaklike mouth at the goddess butterfly. "You can't eat lil' butterfly! She's our friend." With a little help from Darunia tugging him out of the glass by his tail and holding him up and away, Agitha managed to reseal and put her jar back into her basket.

At seeing his fuss and fight at being dangled in the air by his tail, the princess of the insect kingdom felt bad for causing his anger and rummaged through her basket for something she could apologize with. "You can't eat our friends but you can eat this, duckie," Agitha said, picking out a round candy she no doubt used as insect bait from a small glass bottle.

Held up by his tail, Volga was already growling and wriggling to free himself from Darunia's grasp but, at the sight of something that might be food in Agitha's outstretched hand, his threats and wriggling intensified. But before Darunia could set him down to release him, Volga suddenly burst into flames, startling the Goron Chief enough to drop him. He hit the desert ground in a fireball of scales and magic, and before Link could even begin to worry about his small fall, he saw that Volga had landed on his feet. His human feet. Volga was now a toddler and he ran the few steps over to Agitha and ate the round candy straight out of her hand.

"Now _that's_ bizarre," Impa said with an eyebrow raised in disbelief at the tiny dragon that had turned himself into a naked little boy with hair that was simultaneously blond and red.

Link had wondered if it was possible for Volga to switch between his two forms as a baby too but he hadn't actually thought that he could do it—he had figured it was something he would have learned later on as he got older. But he had hoped he could and he was happy that he could, though for some reason he had thought he would be wearing tiny armor. Until they reached a town and could get him some actual clothes, Link helped him into one of his nightshirts as Agitha kept his fussing down with candy and guessing which hand the treat was.

Finding out he could change between forms was both a relief and a new concern for Link and his allies. Link listened in on their continuing discussion over what to do or how to restore him as he kept an eye on Volga. Lana had tried a few spells but none had worked. Zelda had tried restoring his form with the power of her Triforce but he remained tiny and prone to snapping his teeth at and chasing a screaming Proxi around.

"Well, if he stays a tyke in town, we won't have to worry about any gloryseekers hunting him down," Darunia said.

"Indeed, we can always expect and never worry about a two-year-old dragon baby doing exactly as he is told at all times," Impa replied wryly. Darunia frowned at her but could see her point. They probably couldn't rely on Volga behaving or not transforming for whatever random reason or whim.

"It's not something we aren't already used to," Ruto said. "Volga pretty much did whatever he wanted anyway."

"True, but Volga avoided towns and humans altogether," Lana said. "He actually seems to like people now. Well, he still likes Link and he ate candy out of Agitha's hand…"

"He doesn't like people. He's hungry," Midna smarted back, as she watched in twisted amusement as a toddler Volga chased Proxi around. "Look at him waddle. He's hunting. Well, trying to."

"We will simply have to take precautions whenever we pass through a village to ensure that he is not seen by the townsfolk or causes them mayhem. In a sense, Ruto is not off point. We had to adjust when the dragon knight aligned with us and, until he is properly restored, there will be further adjustments to make," Zelda said. "We have Link and regardless of his age, Volga still seems to respond somewhat positively toward him."

Well, he didn't respond positively to Link helping Fi as she tried to reclaim the Moblin flank Volga had taken from their battle spoils. Apparently, he could still transform parts of his body as well, having transformed his tiny hands into tiny dragon claws and he had sunk those tiny claws into the raw meat and Link had a feeling it was going to take losing a finger or two of his own to get Volga to let go of the flank.

"I require this material to craft a badge," Fi said, her fluttering sleeves wrapped around the bone as she pulled the flank toward her.

Locked in a tug of war, Volga pulled back and loudly declared, "No!" in reply. He growled at Link as he brought his hands toward him but there was no way he was going to pry his claws out from the meat, not without definitely having to modify his sword for a three-fingered left hand. Didn't really need to, after Volga bit into the meat and took a chunk out of it, rendering it useless to Fi anyway.

An exhausted Proxi fluttered down some time later and sat on Link's shoulder as he sat on the ground by Volga as he stripped the meat off all the way to the bone.

"Whew, at least he doesn't want to eat me now," Proxi said, catching her breath. "Link, don't let him gnaw on that bone… It's creepy." Link shrugged his shoulders. While it did look really odd to see a toddler chewing and licking on a thick bone, it was keeping him preoccupied and he wasn't hitting anyone with it and once there was no meat on it left, he would probably drop it anyway so Link didn't see any harm in letting him toy with it for a while. It wasn't like Volga could bite through bone.

Volga bit through the bone. As he munched on marrow, Volga happened to look up at Link, wide-eyed in surprise at the strength of a young dragon knight's teeth, even in human form.


	7. Chapter 7

Story Series: How to Tame Your Volga

Disclaimer: Still don't own Hyrule Warriors.

Author's Notes: Thanks to grandshadowseal and DrBananaFace for reviewing.

I admit writing Volga as a baby (and the coming side story) was pretty much a self indulgence. I wasn't happy and it made me happy so that's why it was written. Anyway, here it is part two. As always, thanks for reading.

-o-

Drabble Title: Raise Him Right, Part Two

-o-

There were times Link was quite all right with Volga remaining little, especially when he swiftly became his little shadow and mimicked everything he did. Volga had never spoken of his childhood and whenever Link had asked, the dragon knight had scowled a little deeper and said it didn't matter and wouldn't say anything more. But Link had never thought Volga had been a happy dragon child, though he seemed quite happy now and Link wanted to keep him that way, in chance that if he could grow up again, he would have the chance to turn out quite differently.

But there were other times— when the little dragon stubbornly wanted something he could not have, made a game of nipping Link affectionately, or when Link simply missed the big, ol' scowling dragon knight towering over him—that he wished they could find a way to restore him. Little Volga could talk but his vocabulary was for the most part only two words—"Link" and "no". He also somewhat understood Link some of the time but not nearly as easily and absolutely as he used to and Proxi had to speak for him a lot of the time too.

Today, he was a good dragon for the most part, especially since he had decided that Link's scarf was a leash and that he would lead him around by the scarf all day. Link was holding him in his arms and letting him smoosh his face with his tiny hands to make funny faces as they marched when messengers arrived informing the rest of the Hyrulean forces that they were walking into an ambush. With no other route through or around the valley, they set up a quick base and prepared for battle.

Little Volga wanted to fight. Little Volga could not fight but he wanted to stay by Link and fight all the same. Link and Proxi told Volga to stay in the allied base. Little Volga did not stay in the allied base but Link did not find this out until he was standing beside Impa in front of their troops and saw out of the corner of his eye farther down the valley a tiny, squeaky-roaring toddler running toward the enemy troops with a thick bone club in his raised hand. Yelping in worry, Link broke line immediately and raced as swiftly as his feet could carry him down the valley after him.

The Darknut Volga was approaching was not at all stricken with fear at the sight of the mini-dragon knight barreling toward him as fast as his wobbly, stubby feet could toddle. He didn't even know it was Volga coming at him because Volga was a giant, snarling dragon knight that left battlefields smoldering and castles in ruins. He was not a toddler with a bone club that could only leave some serious bites on one's ankles. If anything, the Darknut was confused and then annoyed and he was going to slice the little pest in two with his large sword. And the Hero was too far to do anything about it.

As the Darknut readied and lined up his slice, a great yell from the surrounding cliffs drew his attention upward. Ignoring the growing shadow beneath him, Volga continued his charge, determined as ever, especially since his foe was distracted. Little Volga never got to fight. A giant warrior had leapt down from the cliffs and landed in front of his distracted Darknut and took him out and the eighty or so Stalchild troops behind him with a single slash of his massive sword. Volga scrambled to a stop and watched as the giant warrior that looked a lot like Link, save for his white hair and pale blue-silver tunic and armor made easy work of the enemy ambush troops.

Volga wanted to fight but the fierce warrior took out everyone before his little feet could come even within bone throwing distance of their foes. All he could do was follow his war path and roar him on and hit his bone club on the helmets of already dead monsters. He was definitely going to help take out King Dodongo, though, as the giant lizard rolled down the valley and onto the battlefield. Volga shifted back into his dragon form and, despite being no bigger than one of Dodongo's claws, he wasn't afraid and he was going to face the beast down, dragon versus dragon.

As the giant lizard breathed in and its mouth glowed with the fire of its internal flame, Volga stood his ground and hissed back. He wasn't afraid. He could breathe fire too. As Dodongo launched a fireball straight at Volga, the fierce warrior ran out and crouched down in front of him, his Hylian Shield raised, not that he seemed to care if he was hurt as long as Volga was protected.

As the fireball burst, the warrior covered Volga with his body and shield. He bared at his teeth and winced at the heat but was otherwise unharmed. "Not again," he said, as the fire died out.

Volga blinked and tipped his head from side to side in curiosity, especially as he saw that the giant warrior that looked like Link only had whites for eyes. But he was strong, really strong, and he had helped him—even though Volga hadn't needed the help—so he climbed up onto his shoulders and wrapped his tail around his neck.

Link arrived soon after and the two slayed King Dodongo easily. Volga stood on the warrior's shoulders, crowed, and spread his wings out in victory. The warrior simply smiled at his antics. With the battle won and a little come-here wave from Link, Volga hopped from the warrior's shoulders, did his best to fly over, and managed to land on Link's shoulders after he quickly crouched down to his level. After a little scrambling and climbing, he was quickly perched around his shoulders, nuzzling his neck and making several creaky chirps in greeting.

"Whew, he's all right…" Proxi said, fluttering above Link's head at a safe distance from Volga's beak. "Thank you for saving him." Link punctuated her words with a sharp nod and hoped the giant warrior who so eerily resembled him understood his gratefulness for protecting Volga.

He smiled back as he raised his hands up toward his face. A bright, blinding white light overtook their eyes and when Link and Volga could turn back, they saw not the fierce warrior that looked like Link but a little kid in a green tunic that looked a lot like Link. Link blinked at his younger twin as Volga made a high-pitched, questioning grunt and half-hopped, half fluttered down from Link's shoulder to the ground and ran back over to the younger Link to figure him out. The boy smiled and laughed as the little dragon looked around, snarled in confusion, sniffed around him, and snorted air onto his neck in search for the big fellow with the big sword that was just there but wasn't now.

"His name is Link too," Proxi told Link as the boy showed a now toddler Volga the mask that looked just like the warrior and explained to him by acting it out that he and the Fierce Deity were the same.

Either not understanding completely or not caring, Volga reached for the mask but the boy shook his head no and quickly put the mask away. Volga puffed out his cheeks in what was his usual start to a tantrum but the still smiling younger Link gently tousled his blond-red hair and handed him the Keaton mask to wear. Both Links pursed their lips closed and struggled not to laugh as the overly-eager little dragon boy put on the harmless mask and roared quite fiercely.

-o-

Though there were some snarky jokes that the Hyrulean army was turning into a daycare, Young Link was nonetheless welcomed and thanked graciously for his assistance to the army for, aside from King Dodongo, single-handedly eliminating the threat from the ambush. It was not exactly known how he had done it, but the Hero and Proxi assured their allies and men that it was Young Link that had saved the day.

And besides, Volga liked Young Link as much as he liked their Link, and he listened to him, and the more people (or Links, in this case) that could occupy Volga's attention and make him behave, the better, or so the Hyrulean forces believed. As it was, Volga was rarely without at least one Link tending to him. He was preferring Young Link at the time, since he was closer in size to him and Link was drawn away to boring war meetings that would be ever so easier to conduct now that they did not have an impatient little dragon acting up and screeching over people as he not so much as vied for Link's attention but rather absolutely dominated his attention.

They were playing hide and seek with Young Link hiding and Volga seeking him out in dragon form. Snout to the ground, he zigzagged back and forth as he followed his scent in search of him. He did not care if his searching caused troops to stumble back or stop suddenly, while carrying heavy carts, crates or weapons sometimes, in order to keep from stepping on him.

Three hours later and after a thorough exploration of some very narrow, child-sized but well-lit with glowing blue crystals cave passages, Young Link and Volga came out very dusty and a little scraped. They were quite happy with their dirt, but after one look, Lana and Ruto decided that it was bathtime for Volga, and he was overdue for one a week ago when he, because he could fit, crawled into a severed Manhandla head and came out sticky with plant sap saliva.

Lana and Ruto found a large washbasin and Ruto filled it with water. Volga stared at the water warily and growled with uncertainty. He did not mind it so much when Lana undressed him but he did not like it, despite her cheeriness, when she said it was time for him to go into the water.

"Oh, don't be like that," Lana said as she struggled to hold onto a wiggling, kicking Volga screaming no over and over. She was surprised but quickly recovered and frowned at him as he tried to bite her. "You have to take a bath."

"I don't see how Link let you go without one for so long. You're such a spoiled child," Ruto said with a mildly teasing smile. "Now, the water isn't hot or cold, see?" She splashed the water upwards and wet Volga's legs and feet. His scream sounded like he was actually in pain.

"It'll only be a few minutes, I promise. It'll be over before you know it," Lana said as she leaned down and brought Volga closer to the water, as he whined and started saying "hurt".

As soon as Lana set him in the water, a panicked, crying toddler Volga leapt out of the water and ran naked through the camp and past bewildered soldiers. The entire time, he screamed for Link at the top of his lungs. It didn't take long for him to hear him and come out from a tent, confused like everyone else. Volga ran straight to and right into him. Once he caught his balance, Link crouched down to his level as a soaking wet Volga hugged him, hiding his face in his tunic. Running after Volga, Lana and Ruto were not far behind. As they walked toward him, Link stared at them questioningly, wondering what was going on and why Volga was so upset.

"We were just giving him a bath," Ruto explained. "He's filthy."

"He keeps saying 'hurt' over and over but I told him it was just water," Lana said, her eyes apologetic, as Volga continued to say "hurt" and tried to hide under Link's tunic.

"That is because water hurts him," Fi said, standing at the corner of the tent. "A fire dragon like Volga is harmed by water. Even in his adult state, he received greater damage from our water-based elemental weapons above any other element, though he has grown a greater resistance to water now in comparison to his near defenseless state when he was a child. This weakness is in due part to his internal flame reservoir."

"At his present age, Volga's ability to open and close his flame reservoir is limited and his fine control over his internal flame is poor," Fi continued to explain as Link hurriedly dried Volga off as he switched to his dragon form. "He is likely to pour too much energy into his fire attacks and will put a too great strain on his reservoir, risking extinguishing his own flame. If his flame goes out, he will be unable to reignite it and ultimately, even with an external high heat source, he would die. He is telling you the water hurts him because it hurts him and he is trying to protect his internal flame."

At learning they were actually harming the little dragon knight and could have quite possibly accidentally killed him, both Ruto and Lana were extremely apologetic to both Volga and Link. Quite unhappy with getting wet and sluggish from his lowered body temperature, Volga climbed up his chainmail and hid under Link's tunic, hooking his claws between the metal links and wrapping his tail around his waist to secure himself. He whined pitifully as he pressed against Link for warmth.

As his concerned request that she do so, Proxi led Young Link to Volga, bobbed around in search of either a dragon or toddler Volga, and found neither. Holding his stomach, Link patted the chunky lump under his tunic and Volga made a low groan in reply and stirred, answering Proxi's question as to where the little dragon was.

"Is he all right?" Proxi asked for Young Link, though the worry in his eyes was clear. Link smiled softly as Volga peeked his beak out from his tunic and, after a few misses, grabbed a hold of Link's scarf and steadily pulled it bit by bit underneath to him.

Proxi and Young Link were both relieved that he was okay, aside from wanting to be alone from everyone but Link. As news came that a nearby town would take them in to let them rest, Link headed for the cliffs, both because Volga liked heights and there was no one to bother Volga or draw Link away for him until the little dragon was warm, alert, and nipping at everything he could eat or, in the case of Link, cared for again. He found a short cave, really more of a deep hole, near the small mountain's peak for shade if they needed it and sat outside of it in the late afternoon sun. Looking down into his tunic, he saw Volga peaceably entangled in his scarf, comforted by both its warmth and his familiar scent.

-o-

When Link returned from his mission, he found the allied base charred and smoldering in parts, shredded and tattered in other parts, and all around far too populated on one side as if suddenly the eastern half of the base was abandoned entirely. He could find no one, not a single soldier on the eastern side of camp.

Seeing General Impa was a welcome sight at long last, but as she stomped straight for him, her eyes colder than a frozen-over Zora's Domain, Link automatically stood ramrod straight at attention and readied himself for the general's verbal lashing. Impa was direct and to the point, especially when she was angry.

He noticed that her hair was far from its usual sleek and orderly appearance. In fact, her hairbands were nowhere in sight. There were shadows under her sleepless eyes and small cuts and scratches, some bandaged and others not, all across her arms and a few on her face.

"I don't care if you have to fight Ganon in the middle of Death Mountain," she said in a calm but furious voice and glowered at him as she leaned down into his face. "If you go anywhere, _he_ goes with you."

Holding her bandaged shoulder in ache, Impa wobbled in her step as she headed presumably to the medical tent for red potion and rest. When he had asked Impa to watch over Volga while he was away, they had both known it would be a bit of a risk. Volga didn't yield to Impa's command to begin with and his younger self tended to hiss at her and ignore her orders. Impa hadn't been too keen on the idea of taking care of him either but she was the only ally remaining at the camp that had any experience with taking care of young kids, though she had reminded Link more than once that not once had Princess Zelda ever behaved like Volga.

From her weary, unkempt state and the wrecked remains of the eastern side of the camp, babysitting Volga had neither been an easy nor enjoyable experience. Link pulled aside the tent flap to the soldiers' quarters and saw by Link's rucksack a pile, no, a horde of rupees, jewelry, swords, Zelda's tiara, anything and everything shiny and of value from no doubt every soldier and ally and enemy, including their battle spoils and also Fi sitting atop of the gathered riches.

As he entered the tent with a rather bemused look on his face, Fi looked toward him and said quite cheerfully, "Master, I have been collected."

He smiled and nodded back, confirming that he could indeed see that she was very much a part of the horde. She pointed her right flowing sleeve to the right and said that Volga was out there. He did not need to follow her direction for long, though the sound of Volga shouting "Mine!" and hearing Ghirahim cursing in close proximity did hasten his steps.

Near the armory, he found a toddler Volga locked in a tug of war while holding onto the tip of Ghirahim's true demon sword as a visibly exasperated Ghirahim grasped onto the hilt and tried his damnedest to free his sword from Volga's stubborn grip any way he could to no effect.

"Let go of my sword, you impudent newt," he ordered, pulling his sword with all his might and getting nowhere as little Volga dug his feet into the dirt and tugged back.

"_Mine!_" Volga shouted in a drawn out manner at the top of his lungs. The last time he had heard and seen Volga behave that possessively was during an impromptu game Midna, Lana, and Ruto had started playing with Volga, which basically consisted of them trying to sit or stand by Link one night when the little dragon had decided that no one was allowed around Link but him. If he was behaving the same way as then, Ghirahim wasn't going to get his sword back.

Link shouted, drawing both their attentions with Ghirahim capitalizing on the little dragon's distraction and wrenching his sword back from him. Raising his sword, he smirked darkly in victory at Link and snapped his fingers, summoning his magic. He fled in a plume of black diamonds, crowing the entire time, before Link's sword slash ever came within inches of cutting him.

Kicking and screaming on the ground, Volga turned red in a fit of a terrible tantrum at losing a sword that wasn't even his to horde. Link cringed as he thought quickly of how to go about calming him and took a step forward. Grown or not, when Volga turned red, he didn't and wouldn't listen to anyone. Pretty much the only thing one could do was let him burn himself out. More often than not, Link had to intervene and fight him until he exhausted himself. Young Volga was not that different, though Link did not fight him.

Crouching down beside him, he picked him up off the ground and tried to hold him until he calmed. A quick kick to his right ribs put an end to that. Hissing and snapping at him, Volga made it clear he didn't want to be touched, consoled, or cuddled. As he stomped off, Link followed him back to the tent. Volga shifted into his dragon form and crawled onto his treasure horde and laid his head on Fi's lap, with Fi loosely wrapping her sleeves around him.

"He has not slept or allowed his caretakers to sleep properly through the duration of your absence. It was allotted to me to watch over him throughout the night because I do not need rest. I can report that while his physical requirements were met, he searched for you and called for you endlessly. I believe that he missed you."

Link looked down at Volga, laying still and fighting sleep with his third eyelid closed halfway over his glassy eyes, and smiled softly. Gently, he picked him up and Volga groaned and shifted to his toddler form.

"You…go," Volga pouted, punching him in the chest but in his weary state weakening his fist, Link did not so much as even register the hit. Still it was clear that he was upset that Link had been gone for so long and didn't understand that he couldn't have gone with him for his own safety.

Sitting on the tent grounds with Volga in his arms, Link loosely wrapped his scarf around him. The little dragon boy chewed on his scarf as he laid against his chest and slowly gave into sleep.

"Master, I have been running multiple physical scans and I believe that I have detected an anomaly and must analyze it further," Fi said. Bringing one of her sleeves over Volga, she initiated another scan and slid her hovering sleeve all along his resting body. As he stirred in Link's arms, Volga turned his head toward his chest.

"Here," she said, pausing at the base of his neck. "I detect the minute presence of a Timeshift Stone. I believe that fragments embedded into Volga's neck during the bombchu's explosion have prevented him from returning to his rightful age. Do you wish for me to remove them now?"

Seeing no reason not to, Link nodded yes. A bubble of golden light appeared on the tip of Fi's sleeve and drew forth and captured three tiny slivers of Timeshift Stone, glowing bright blue with power, out from Volga's neck. As soon as they were removed and contained, a white light enveloped Volga's body and he began to grow and age. Having still been in Link's arms at the time, Link's arms gave way at his sudden full weight and he winced as Volga dropped into his lap, mashing his legs.

The restored dragon knight woke up slowly and groggily. Little by little, he sat up and realized a bit of Link's scarf was in between his fangs. He spat Link's scarf right into his face.

"Why are we back at camp and where is my armor?" A naked Volga, having grown out of and ripped his child clothes in shreds, asked, his voice slightly slurred, as he was not quite awake and aware yet.

Link tried to explain to him and gestured repeatedly about how he was transformed into a little dragon boy but it was a rather difficult story to tell, especially with a sleep-deprived Volga not even giving a damn or paying much attention. Link could tell that he needed clothes or a large blanket or enough room to shift into a dragon and all the time he wanted to sleep.

"Of course, I was young once but I am not now," Volga said, scowling in annoyance. "Where is my armor? I am tired and do not wish to play guessing games. I will deal with you later, boy."

"Your armor and weapon were stored in the armory until you were restored to your proper age," Fi said.

At that, Volga raised an eyebrow. "My proper age?"

Fi explained to him how fragments of a Timeshift Stone de-aged him and it was Link, for the most part, that took care of him.

"I guess that you will stop pestering me to tell you now that you know what I was like as a child," he said as Link handed him a pair of black shorts. It was at least something he could cover himself with, not that really minded to or was too tired to care if he slept naked. The other soldiers minded, however.

As Link pinched and pulled Volga's cheek, the dragon knight stared back at him dully. "I was not cute," he insisted as Link's grin said otherwise.


	8. Chapter 8

Series Title: How To Tame Your Volga

Disclaimer: Still don't own Hyrule Warriors.

Author's Notes: Thanks to DrBananaFace, grandshadowseal, and MissKainHearts for reviewing.

This a what-if companion side piece to my previous two part story in this series. Basically, the idea is the same but, instead of Volga, Link is the one de-aged. While Volga's story has his complete restoration, I ended Link's story before he gets changed back, as most of the ideas, concerning Volga protecting Link, were things I had done or will do in other chapters.

I didn't have quite the time, focus, or energy to bring Link's story full circle. Then again, this is a what-if story and it probably doesn't even need to come full circle but I'm just used to writing stories with proper beginnings and endings. For these shorter pieces, it's probably a habit I need to curb, since everything ends up longer and longer and all my multi-chapters like "Wind" get pushed back a little more each time. It's been over a year since I last updated that and that's rather shameful.

As always, thanks for reading.

-o-

Story Title: World's Best Dragon Dad

-o-

Volga had never heard of such stones that could alter time but he begrudgingly accepted the sword spirit's explanation as truth, only because he knew of no other way that gave reason as to why the boy was now a baby. His sudden transformation displeased the dragon knight and he found it difficult to think of the baby and the boy as one in the same. While Volga had always towered over the boy anyway, he was smaller now, small enough that if his head laid in his hands his feet would not reach the bend of his elbow. He was small and weak. Volga would not tolerate the weak. The boy would have to become strong again.

Deciding he needed not the royal whelp's permission to enter her tent, Volga pushed past the guards and the tent flap, ignored the Sheikah general's reprimand and their stares, and laid the freshly-severed Moblin flank on the table beside the woven basket containing a crying Baby Link.

"Get that away from him," Lana shouted and grimaced in disgust as she bubbled the Moblin flank in magic.

"You said he was hungry," Volga turned toward and said to Zelda. "I brought him meat and marrow to make him strong."

"Raw meat isn't baby food," Lana replied in a tone that implied he was stupid. Volga considered setting her book on fire for the insult but decided she wasn't worth it.

"Volga, I realize that you intend well and that this is more than likely appropriate food for dragonkind," Zelda said in a calm, measured voice. "However, at the age he is presently at, Link does not have teeth and even if he did, they would not be strong enough to chew meat, much less bone."

"I see that he has no claws, but no teeth as well?" Volga raised an eyebrow in surprise. "How does your young fight?"

"They don't," Zelda said. "They are defenseless and must be protected."

Volga snorted derisively and looked away at nothing but the side of the tent. "How your kind managed to take and control this land and became so plentiful when your young cannot fight, I do not understand," he said. "You truly must be favored by your gods."

A messenger came in immediately after with news that a suitable wet nurse had been located. Though he was told that he did not need to and that he probably would not wish to stay, Volga remained as a middle-aged Hylian woman with clear Gerudo ancestory came in and tended to Link, putting an end to his incessant hunger cries at least.

Even with guards watching over Link and the Sheikah woman and her queen remaining in the room with her as well, Volga wasn't about to leave while this woman who knew him not had Link in her arms. Volga didn't like her holding him. He didn't want anyone holding him. Link was small and weak and, according to the royal whelp, had to be protected, so Volga would stand guard, if only to keep an eye on him. Even after Link dozed off and the wet nurse was taken elsewhere—to be shown where to be when she was not needed, the dragon knight presumed, he remained by the basket, peeking in from time to time whenever he stirred.

-o-

Volga saw a problem that he didn't like. It annoyed him and when things annoyed him, he made them not exist so they could not bother him anymore. Finishing the pitiful excuse for a goat chop that was disappointingly not attached to a whole goat as he had hoped at the news that they were having goat for dinner, the dragon knight rose from his seat on a wooden crate and returned to the princess's tent where the boy was eating his toes last Volga had seen of him.

The baby boy seemed happy as he kicked his feet and babbled at Volga as he walked up to his basket. "They may be content to simply leave you here but I will not," he said, picking Link up and setting him down on an already spread out blanket on the tent grounds.

He thought it was odd that the boy did not try to stand up at all. In fact, as Volga sat down with him on the blanket, he crawled over to him and was fascinated by his shiny red armor and the clang his tiny hands made on the metal.

Picking him up, Volga frowned as he glared at Link's feet. "Why do you curl your feet inwards? Lay them flat," he ordered. After a few tries and holding him up as Link stamped, kicked, and hopped in place, Volga eventually got him to sort of lay his feet flat.

"There. Now stand," he said and let him go. Link plopped back down, landing on his cloth diaper. Volga tried again and again and every time Link fell onto his bottom. Frustrated and angry after six tries, a red-faced, teary Link shouted at Volga and thrashed his arms and legs as an equally frustrated Volga tried yet again. "Stand up, boy. I cannot teach you how to fight if you do not stand."

Volga was determined, which was pretty much a polite way of saying he was stubborn, to get Link to stand up. But when he finally realized when something wasn't working and wasn't going to work, he was quick to change routes.

"You cannot stand up either, can't you?" he thought aloud and scowled a little deeper as he reconsidered. "You have no claws and teeth and you cannot run so you are laid in a woven basket for any beast and enemy soldier to take away." He scrunched up his face in displeasure. "There must be something you can do."

The wet nurse entered the tent carrying a rolled-up bundle of cloth. She raised an eyebrow at Volga down on the ground with Link but otherwise smirked in amusement at the scene. Bending forward, she laid the cloth on the blanket and rolled out the bundle. Inside were small, wooden objects. Volga was pretty sure one was a small club. He liked the possibilities opened up to him.

"What are these? Weapons?" he asked as the wet nurse picked up the small club and shook it in front of Link, gaining his interest and cheering him up. He squealed and bounced as he reached for the club. From the rattle noise it made, the dragon knight realized the tiny club was hollow on the inside. He frowned. If it was hollow, it wouldn't make for a very good weapon.

"Hardly, honey," the nurse smiled and shook her head in disbelief as Link chewed on the rattle. "They're just toys."

He supposed they were the more he looked at them. He was quite disappointed. Hylian babies were so much weaker than dragonkin hatchlings. They at least could scurry away to safety from birth and they had fangs and claws to protect themselves. And as for young dodongo and dragon hatchlings with internal flames, they had the ability to 'overheat' themselves and create a powerful burst of fire and magic to incinerate their foes, or if their foes were more study than that, at least deter them from eating them. Link's one weapon seemed to be his strident cries, which only intensified the longer he had to wait to be fed.

"You're an endless pain in my side, boy," Volga grumbled aloud as he sat with his eyes close, half-meditating on his options. "I had told you that I would handle the bombchu myself and you had to interfere—" His eyes opened in stunned surprise as Link's rattle cracked into and bounced off his nose. He snarled at the pain, more so because he had thrown it at him than for any actual ache.

His snarl swiftly became a smirk. Volga had set fools on fire for daring to strike him but he found the infant boy's brazen courage, despite being no bigger than the dragon knight's foot, commendable and amusing. "I see you still have a good arm. But now you have left yourself open with no weapon and this…" He picked up the tiny rattle in a pinching grasp. "This is not an effective throwing weapon."

Smiling and clapping his hands, Link then reached out for and took back the rattle as Volga gave it to him. He eyed Link's grasp and his arm intently as he waved the rattle up and down. "Small and weak as you are, you have fight. Good."

The Hyrulean forces were very foolish not to notice the boy's will to fight, even in his infant state. The others had visited him and had played with, held, and sang to him but none tried to teach him to fight. They were going to squander his potential and leave him defenseless like the rest of their young. Volga would not. "This shall be your sword and this shall be mine," he said, extending his index finger. "Let us cross swords and I shall see what you are capable of."

Retaining none of his training—Volga presumed that since he had reduced in age, he technically hadn't received his training yet to recall it—and his warrior's instinct not yet awakened, the boy's sword swings were erratic and random at best. It took a few tries and Volga had to meet his sword to show him what they were doing but he hadn't pressed on all of the dragon knight's last nerves yet when he finally started to 'clash swords' against Volga.

"Not bad. Learn how to walk and you might be worth teaching," Volga said as the boy blocked his strike from the left, whether it was happenstance or intended by the baby boy he had yet to determine. The boy was already an exception to Volga's utter hatred of humans and the boy de-aging hadn't changed his opinion. The Hyrulean forces seemed to believe that with Link unable to stop him or around to fight him that Volga would leave or even turn on their forces. Believing that they weren't worth the effort to char, Volga had no intention of doing either, unless he saw fit to leave with the boy.

Having fought the Hero he was destined to become, the baby boy was not weak, not exactly. He simply had great potential to become a worthy challenge to the dragon knight. Even if it meant taking him under his wing to see that potential unlocked and realized once more, Volga would teach him. With the boy de-aged, Volga was now vastly stronger than Link but he did not proclaim and lord over his greater strength as he had not defeated him and there was no honor in a victory against an infant.

As he made another pretend slash of his sword, Link took hold of his index finger. Admittedly, for a second, he was taken aback and blinked as he stared at his five little fingers wrapped around his one, noticing his even smaller, flimsy fingernails in the evening sunlight. He peered up and saw Link smiling at him as he dropped his rattle and reached his left hand over to fiddle with the rest of Volga's hand.

Volga breathed a bullish snort, closed his eyes, and smirked. "Already trying to catch swords with your bare hand… You're getting ahead of yourself, hatchling."

Baby Link cooed and babbled in reply as he smacked the dragon knight's bare palm. Volga let him pull his hand closer toward him. Why he was so fascinated by his hand, Volga would never understand. It wasn't like it rattled or anything.

"H-Hey, you aren't supposed to eat the sword," Volga said, as the baby boy immediately stuck his finger in his mouth. His upper lip curled in disgust as Link licked his finger and drooled. He threw a fit and fussed and reached for it when Volga took his hand away. He gave his hand back to Link.

"An endless pain in my side," he grumbled with a deep scowl on his face as he sighed in resignation.

-o-

After a short three-hour walk through the wooded mountains, Volga returned to the allied base to find the Hyrulean forces up in arms and as spastic as a coop of headless cucco. Though he sensed an air of urgency about the grounds, the dragon knight didn't see much of a difference—he was used to seeing the humans flounder uselessly across the battlefield. Soldiers running away from him at first sight was also a common sight.

Holding Link in his right arm with the baby boy gripping in between two of his many arm belt bindings, Volga stopped mid-step as he noticed Link's allies and the wet nurse closing a circle around him. Many of his allies were relieved and voiced their joy that Link was all right and unharmed.

"Has Link been with you this entire time?" Impa asked, needling an accusatory glare into the dragon knight.

"Yeah," Volga said, utterly flippant.

"And you didn't tell anyone?" Lana said.

"I am free to take the hatchling where I please and need not to ask permission," Volga replied, as Link was distracted by his own reflection making faces at him in Volga's shiny breastplate. It was not the first time at either age that Link had sat and made faces into his armor.

Impa scrunched up her face in confusion. "Hatchling?"

"While it is good to know that he had been in no harm," Zelda said, "it would be appreciated next time you wish to remove him from the base that you inform someone. A guard would do. Just so we know he's accounted for."

"For his safety, I presume," Volga tipped his head to the side once to show that he pretended to care.

The royal whelp said yes and nodded in agreement.

"If he is with me, he is safe."

As the Hyrulean forces spoke otherwise, Volga did not listen. Their words did not matter. The only voice that mattered in the protest was the boy's as he yelled quite happily at nothing. "See? The boy agrees."

"You will do as the Queen of Hyrule commands of you," Impa ordered.

"I am not of Hyrule," he replied. "I am my own king."

"And I'm sure by morning you'll be a dragon god…" Ruto said wryly, eyes briefly looking up at the sky. "Just tell someone."

"Or let someone see you've got Link," Darunia said. "We just want to know where he is, brother."

"Put yourself in our shoes," Midna chimed in. "If one of us went off with Link and wouldn't let you know we had him, you'd pitch a fit and set the mountain on fire." The impish Twili smirked in confirmed victory and point made as Volga bared his fangs at her.

"I said that he is safe and that is all any of you need to know," he insisted, his scowl absolutely rigid in indignation. "I know that it is because _I_ took him that you want to know. You think I will harm him."

"No…" Lana said, shaking her head in frustration, "we don't. At least, I don't think you would, intentionally. Don't make this a fight. Link is small and well, face it…you know nothing about human babies."

"And I don't care," Volga said, as Link grabbed ahold of his jewel pendant and rattled his thick chain necklace. Bitter with insult, he stomped past the Hyrulean forces before he was driven to strike one of them. It mattered not if he knew nothing about human babies—was it not the wet nurse's purpose to take care of Link in that regard? It mattered that he was a dragon prone to anger and dragons did not have a hand in raising a Hero. They were slayed by Heroes.

"Goddesses, I've seen mama dogs adopt stray kittens," the wet nurse said, "but I never thought I'd see a dragon adopt a human."

"In some regards, Volga is the first of his kind," Zelda said.

-o-

Volga awoke in the middle of the night to what he thought at first was the shrill bleating of the goat they had ate haunting the base camp. He growled as the cry changed and he realized it was not a creature he could silence by eating it. As he dragged himself off the ground and stood up, his irritation at the boy's crying pressed into rage as it persisted. The Hyrulean forces had claimed he would be safe in the wet nurse's care and foolishly Volga had listened to them. After they located another, he would not leave the next nurse's side.

"Why have you not tended to his cries?" Volga said, immediately after stepping past the tent flap. "If you have harmed him—" There was no need for the dragon knight to say more. She already knew what he would do to her and if she didn't, she would know soon enough.

"I've done all I can for him, honey," she said, shaking her head, as she folded tiny tunics and pants for Link. "Sometimes babies cry for no reason. Don't worry. He'll cry himself to sleep."

"Then what good are you?" he said. "Leave, human."

Mouth open and eyes wide, the wet nurse stopped mid-fold, stared at the dragon knight, but otherwise remained and watched him. Volga breathed a harsh snort and ignored her as he turned away from her and headed toward Link squalling in the basket. As he raised a clawed hand toward the red-faced baby boy, he heard the wet nurse scream out for help and run out the tent. Stopped and peering over his shoulder, Volga looked over and saw that he was still wearing his gauntlets. He immediately removed them.

The princess, her general, and the white witch were first to arrive to the silent tent to find a resting Volga sitting bowed forward on the ground with Link laying on a bed of blankets and pillows in between the dragon knight's crossed legs. Quiet and sleeping peaceably, Link lay holding Volga's hand and suckled on his thumb knuckle.

"If this is the only thing that shuts him up," Volga said, scowling as he raised his head slightly and stared up at Zelda, "so be it."


	9. Chapter 9

Series Title: How To Tame Your Volga

Disclaimer: Still don't own Hyrule Warriors.

Author's Notes: Much thanks to MissKainHearts, grandshadowseal, and SlayersFan132 for reviewing.

After my baby chapters, I hadn't actually intended to write a chapter where Young Link interacts with Volga but a handful of readers asked for it. After HW Legends came out, Toon Link had to be added. This still might not be to readers' liking as Volga interacts more with Toon Link than Young Link here…but it was fun to write.

As a small clarification, none of the chapters are meant to be in chronological order or follow any sort of connected plot. Whatever scenes appeal to me and whatever readers may want to see is the only connecting string throughout these stories. As always, thanks for reading.

-o-

Story Title: You and Me and Me and Me

-o-

Volga still did not fully grasp how the Spirit of the Hero was reborn across the ages. Mainly he didn't understand how his Link and the two younger Links were spiritually one person. Cia had explained it to him in fanatical detail when she had held him under her magic and then his allies and the Links had each also gave their renditions, the latter with crayon drawings. But no matter if their words made sense at the time, Volga never quite understood. Oh, he saw their similarities—when Toon Link suggested they draw a picture show to explain their connection to Volga, the other Links had perked up so brightly—but he couldn't see them as one person reliving three lives.

Young Link was sure he was his pet dragon Volvagia reborn as well but Volga had no patience to entertain that possibility. His past lives meant nothing to him—he lived for his present self. Still the bright-eyed boy had accepted and treated him as a friend as only his Link had—the first time he had seen Volga in his dragon form, Young Link had ran up and hugged him and Volga still knew not why. Volga could not scoff entirely at the…familiarity he felt around the child. He considered the boy a friend, for reasons the dragon knight did not question for lack of caring why or how.

Arms locked together, Volga and a possible fourth Link called Fierce Deity Link grappled for power and position. Volga had asked Young Link before about his other form but Young Link had simply smiled at him. He was so cheerfully tight-lipped about the mask that Volga wanted to shake him by the tunic until he explained what or who his other self was. All of his threats were countered by grins and big eyes, irritating the dragon knight so roundly he always had to storm away from him in disgust.

Young Link was no less a pest than his Link but Volga let Young Link get away with treating his dragon form like a pet, letting him hand-feed him bites and sleep against him. He supposed he had confused matters by oftentimes curling around him in his dragon form and nuzzling snout to cheek with him.

What the boy had mistaken for affection, however, was Volga's hording instinct. The boy was too small and breakable to lay atop and the nuzzling was...that didn't matter. He didn't know if it was proof that they were one person or not, but each Link had the uncanny ability to make Volga want to possess them. He wanted to fight them and he horded them so no one else could stake claim. The Hero, in any form, was his alone to defeat.

Grabbing underneath Fierce Deity's arms, Volga picked him up and slammed him to the ground. Volga had begun their wresting spar bare-chested and Fierce Deity's tunic had been ripped and tossed aside long ago. They had no interest in testing their bladed weapons. This was purely a match of pride and physical strength. Much to the enigmatic god's astonishment and then pleasure, Volga had taken a punch that was meant to obliterate him out of existence without flinching and then heartily offered him a knock in trade.

Dust stirred around them, stuck to, and smeared across their sweaty skin as Volga struggled to pin Fierce Deity Link. The fearsome god scrambled to regain his footing as the dragon knight pressed his shoulder blades closer and closer to the ground.

Volga laughed low in dark triumph. "I won't lie and say that I don't enjoy that you have to live forever with this loss."

Fierce Deity smirked back and then rolled himself backwards, reversing their positions. Exhausted and with no time or room to counter, Volga was pinned.

"I concede," he said, thick with bitter respect. "For now."

Fierce Deity Link grinned and chuckled low. Even for an immortal monstrosity, he had the same cheery, cheeky grin as all the other Links. It made Volga want to throttle him even more the next time they sparred.

As the mysterious god brought his hands to his face, a bright silver white light overtook the dragon knight's sight, forcing him to shut his eyes and turn away. He felt the muscle and mass of Fierce Deity's body vanish completely for an instant before a much lighter, smaller weight took its place. As the light receded and dimmed, Fierce Deity's face formed into a mask and Young Link sat on his chest grinning back at Volga.

Sitting up slightly, bracing himself by his arms, Volga smirked and rumbled his throat in amusement. "You are the strangest and smallest dragon I have ever met but a pair of dragons you are nonetheless," he said as he playfully shoved Young Link's head, nearly toppling him over.

Leaning against a mossy, flat-topped boulder, his Link paused in his whittling and tossed his other self a supportive smile. With the Hyrulean forces taking a day of rest, there wasn't much to do so Volga and the trio of Links were lazing about in the meadows. His Link was trying to carve a wooden dragon—Volga had mistaken it for a rabbit-eared dog, earning a glare and a puffy-cheeked pout from an annoyed Link insisting that he wasn't done yet.

Shaking the Goddess Butterfly he was inspecting off his finger, the smallest, possibly youngest, but definitely newest Link in their ever growing brotherhood half-ran, half-hopped over to Young Link and congratulated him. Stepping off Volga, Young Link laughed as Toon Link raised one of his arms as the champion.

The dragon knight wiped his hand over his mouth to hide his smile as he watched the younger Links chatter among themselves. He admired how supportive each Link was to one another. They challenged and brought out the best in one another…and him, little as Volga would admit to that. Although if all three were feeling impish and wanted to play games, they could be more infuriating than Skull Kid.

Toon Link raised his tiny fists up to Volga and stepped into a boxing stance.

Volga smirked as he rose to his feet. "You wish to fight me too, hatchling?"

Toon Link nodded.

"I admire your spirit. You will become a fine Hero one day," he said, roughly tousling Toon Link's bright yellow hair as he walked past him and started tracking the scent of flint in the wind. While the dragon knight had long since outgrown the need to eat flint to spark his flame reservoir, he still held a wisp of fondness for the taste.

He heard the smallest Link gasp in shock and call out at him to fight. Volga marched along, as casually as a stomping, impatient dragon could. Insulted, Toon Link ran after him, leapt off the back of his leg, and grabbed him by the neck from behind. As brave and foolish as the boy was, his rapid, sharp punches hurt no more than a walnut banging against his head.

Sighing, Volga turned toward his Link and stared at him, figuring that his level stare and harsh frown and Toon Link scratching his face would speak far more than Volga outright ordering him to get the runt off him. Link watched in awe and disbelief and struggled not to laugh as Toon Link hooked his hands into his mouth and forcibly stretched Volga's mouth into a tense, toothy grin.

If he wanted to, the dragon knight could crunch his small hands in two and set the boy ablaze with the spark of his battle aura. But as foolish as the youngest Link was for attacking him bare-handed, his audacity was a sight to behold. Stupid but admirable.

Volga decided that he had enough of his tantrum as Toon Link gnawed on his head. He reached back, grabbed him by the back of his tunic, and pulled him off. The boy flailed and fought Volga, even as the dragon knight held him out at arm's length.

Unimpressed and unamused, Volga scowled as Toon Link blustered and challenged him, despite the fact that the kid stood barely to his waist. He was lucky that Volga didn't decide to hell with this and punt him across the meadow. "Tire yourself so I may leave."

The kid made a noise that was more like a cat hissing than a dragon's roar.

Volga raised an eyebrow. "You wish to be a dragon too?"

Toon Link nodded.

"Honorable of you to desire a place among us," he said, tossing Toon Link to the ground. "One day, you might be worthy."

Toon Link scowled. "Come on!" he shouted, stomping his boots and raising his fists in outrage. Just as the boy looked ready to run after Volga again, Young Link laid a hand on his back, drawing his sharp, cat-eyed attention.

Seeing no point in apologizing, Volga left, undecided if he wanted to bother searching for the flint field or find some desolate hole he could cool off and rest inside. His thrill of battle was wearing off and Fierce Deity had punched him several times with the force of Creation powering his hits. His bones were more than rattled. Some red potion and a few hour's rest and he would be up and ready to charge the battlefield if need be.

-o-

The hatchling was going to get himself killed, Volga was sure of it. But Toon Link was one of several child warriors the Hyrulean forces had recruited to their cause and they had to be more than competent allies, compared to their 'trained' army, otherwise the royal whelp would never let them fight. He wished the bird child would stop calling him Valoo, though.

Having no mission or troops to command, the dragon knight could do what he wished and did best—wildfire across the field, leaving no enemies alive or uncharred. Rarely was he tasked to lead a band of human troops, as his one order for the Hylian soldiers was always for them to stay the hell out of his way. He only worked well with Link, any and all of them. Except for Toon Link. He had his doubts about the hatchling among the Links. He was small and young, even younger than Young Link—how much combat could a boy his age have seen? Volga was certain he was as green as his tunic.

The dragon knight rampaged across the grassy plains of Hyrule Field in search of the smallest Link. As little as he was, his bright yellow hair and too green tunic was easy to spot as he scurried and leapt about, slashing bulblins with his Light Sword, its cuts boosted by a magical green wind. Having never seen the boy fight, Volga slowed his charge and kept an eye on the boy as he snapped a Stalchild's spine in two and readied himself for the dark forces' next advance.

Toon Link was fast. He was nowhere near as strong as Volga or his Link or possessed an all-powerful other self but his speed and courage let him cut down his foes and dodge their swings well before he was in harm's way. His attacks weren't strong but he could strike so frequently that his weakness did not matter. Perhaps Volga had too hastily scoffed at the boy's challenge…

Just as the dragon knight believed the boy would do well on his own, he saw Toon Link stumble at the end of his massive great spin attack. The boy tottered about on his boot tips, his head wobbling and eyes rolling around. He was completely unaware of and was helpless against the Moblin barreling toward him. Quickly disposing of three Icy Big Poes pestering him, Volga readied his spear and chucked it. His spear's trident prongs pierced the Moblin's heart and felled the pig creature before the boy had shaken off the last of his dizziness.

"You do not belong here," Volga said, stomping past Toon Link as he retrieved his spear. "Return to base."

Toon Link refused to leave. He insisted on staying and fighting alongside Volga. He was a Hero too like his fellow Links, after all, and declared that he was worthy to be a dragon just the same as them.

Volga snarled at the boy's impudence. "I will not shield you again," he said, cutting down ten bulblin in a row with a single sweep of his spear. "Leave. Let the real warriors fight."

Crushed and with his mouth open and tears welling in his large eyes, Toon Link stared at Volga and silently pled to him to reconsider, apologize…he wanted him to say something that wasn't that. Pushing a bulblin off his spear with his boot, the dragon knight glared at him to go one final time and turned away in search of his next kill. He saw Toon Link's tears fall and his face scrunch up in rage. Gripping his sword and shield even tighter, Toon Link screamed and rushed after Volga. It didn't matter if he had to cut down Volga himself, the boy was determined to prove his worth.

A bitter taste washed through his downturned mouth. Volga did not want to harm the boy and knew it wouldn't be a fair fight but he would stomp the boy into the ground if that was what it would take to end his foolishness.

"I take no pleasure in this," he said, swinging his spear back. With perfect timing, he hoped to knock Toon Link out with a smack of his spear shaft.

Argorok's familiar strident roar stalled Volga's swing and sent a startled Toon Link tumbling and sliding through the dirt. Volga looked over his shoulder and saw the dark-armored dragon soar out of a summoning gate. Long wisps of fire magic twisted around Argorok's body as the dragon reared his head and opened his mouth, the inside glowing red. Volga quickly summoned his wings and covered Toon Link as Argorok blanketed them in fire.

"_Leave,_" he roared as he shifted into his dragon form, ash and embers stirring around them. Yet again, the boy gawked stupidly at him, instead of obeying his order. Volga pushed him far behind him with his dragon arm and faced Argorok.

He had seen Link and his allies wrench Argorok to the ground with a hookshot time after time but no one was more suited to killing Argorok than Volga. Taking flight, he dodged his flapped up tornado without feeling so much as a tug on his flight path. Certain that the witch's enchantments would overpower the dragon knight, the dark dragon swooped down and crashed into Volga.

Claws and fangs tangled and sliced across armor and scales as the two dragons clashed and plunged toward the land below. Biting his neck, Volga slung Argorok forward and slammed him into the ground. Fire licking his throat, Volga breathed a plume of fire over the servile serpent's belly who did not deserve to be called a dragon. He was a coward and a disgrace to dragons. He knew exactly why Argorok still kowtowed to Cia and Ganondorf—he was weak. A dragon that hides behind a human's might deserved to die.

Severely injured but not dead yet, Argorok scurried out of Volga's flames. He let the pseudo-lizard take flight once more before he dive-bombed after him. He was also pleased to see that the hatchling Link had finally listened to him and left. He had quickly scoured the earth as he waited for Argorok and had not caught sight of the boy anywhere.

Volga and Argorok continued to quarrel and clash in the sky. He roared in agony and wrath as Argorok flew up from below and crunched down on the sinkstone on his chestplate. The gem he wore in both forms was not merely a shiny trinket but a vessel that absorbed and held the great magical energy he needed to shapeshift. A scrape or two on the gem leading to an energy leak was worrisome but survivable—as long as he had enough time to create a new sinkstone. However, a crack would release the massive force of magic he used to compress himself into his human form and rematerialize his dragon body at all once, which would kill him, everyone on the battlefield, and all in likely the vast majority of the province they were fighting in.

Uncertain if Argorok knew what he was biting or not, Volga scrambled to think of a way to free the gem from the dark dragon's jaws. By necessity, sinkstones were sturdy but even Volga knew better than to act with haste and brute force when dealing with a sinkstone. Precision was not the dragon knight's forte, unfortunately.

What felt like small footsteps raced up and along Volga's spine. He knew not why he was feeling such a sensation or could explain what it was. He promptly realized exactly what it was as Toon Link leapt off his forehead and landed on Argorok. As the hatchling Link vigorously hacked away at the dragon stone between Argorok's wings, the panicked dragon let go of Volga's gem. Volga kicked Argorok away with his hind claws and soared out of his grasp.

Argorok twisted and writhed through the air in an effort to toss Toon Link off him. Though the boy screamed as he was tossed and jostled around, the hatchling managed to hang on through the worst of it and stabbed relentlessly at Argorok's weakest point. With one final strident roar, Argorok lifelessly dropped through the air. Volga swiftly dove after Toon Link but knew he would be seconds too late to reach him in time. To his surprise, however, as the ground drew closer and closer, he saw Toon Link hop off Argorok and glide safely down using a giant leaf that was larger than him.

With fire and fury, Volga landed and shifted into his human form. "I told you to leave and you still did not obey," he growled, stomping across the field over to Toon Link as the cheery boy gasped in shock and braced himself and his weapons to fight the dragon knight.

"Thank you," Volga said in a softer but nonetheless gruff voice, as he bowed down and laid a hand on a confused and uncertain Toon Link. The boy flinched, but as he realized that Volga was not going to strike or toss him across the plains, he opened his eyes to see Volga offering him his dragon helmet.

The boy peered up at him, his wide-eyed stare silently asking him if this was true and if it was all right for him to take it, and Volga nodded that yes, it was. His grin beaming, Toon Link took Volga's helmet and put it on. Standing tall and proud, Toon Link roared at Volga.

His Link and Young Link came running soon after with news that the battle was over. They had also heard Volga's pained roar but were relieved to see that he was not seriously harmed. Young Link grinned and congratulated Toon Link as he posed, alternating between flexing his arms and standing akimbo, and strutted about, letting the helmet's long fiery plume trail behind him.

Volga grinned as he watched his tiny, honorary dragon's antics until his Link tapped his chestplate with his back of his hand to gain his attention. He asked Volga why he had never let him wear his helmet.

The dragon knight smirked. "You haven't earned the right."

Puffing out his cheeks, Link scrunched up his mouth and smacked Volga's chestplate, earning a smug grin and a low chuckle from the dragon knight.

As they decided to head to the allied base, Volga grabbed Toon Link by the back of his tunic, surprising the young Hero, and sat him between his shoulders. Resting his small hands on Volga's head, the smallest Link couldn't feel taller.


	10. Chapter 10

Series Title: How To Tame Your Volga

Disclaimer: Still don't own Hyrule Warriors.

Author's Notes: After having the worst day at work where basically everything bad that could have happened, including an accident that was entirely my fault, did happen, I came home and had to channel my stress into something. I'm very much a believer in Neil Gaiman's advice that when things happen, make good art. For me, it's either make something or wind up physically ill and I'd rather have the drabble.

While I was writing this, I had two thoughts of where this scene might go from here. First possibility was Link choosing to stay with Volga and becoming outlaws and traitors of the kingdom and somehow Linkle becomes the Legendary Hero for the Hyrulean forces. The other was that because he's the Hero, Link sides with Hyrule but Volga has to flee or face execution. Not knowing the reason behind his attack and still devoted to Volga, Link does his best to keep Volga alive and safe until matters can be sorted out, if they can be. Not that this scene is going to go anywhere else, though.

I'm not sure if the title is entirely applicable to Link and Volga's situation, but it was definitely cathartic for me. Volga is more than likely OOC at the end but I just needed to write this... As always, thanks for reading.

-o-

Story Title: Catharsis

-o-

Lantern in hand, Link followed the claw and char marks marring the mouth of the cave and made his way slowly down into the belly of the mountain. He shouldn't be here and he knew it. It was not just a matter of Lana telling him not to go after Volga—Link felt more out of place, uncertain, anxious, and afraid to be here with every step. Following a dragon consumed by rage into narrowing underground passages scared him far less than knowing that Volga was in need of help, Link knew not where he was, and his allies refused to search, insisting that they could not trust Volga any more and neither should Link. The Hyrulean forces preferred to let Volga die. The only reason they would help search for him would be to execute him themselves.

He didn't know what had happened and he couldn't get a straight answer from any of his allies. No one seemed to know what had happened and everything they could tell him, Link had seen with his own eyes. Half of their war tents were on fire, at least forty soldiers were dead and more would succumb to their burns before morning, and Zelda's palms and the right side of her face and ear were entirely scorched—it was by the Goddesses' blessing that it was not more than that.

Volga had attacked them and no one could tell him why.

Reaching his hideout, Link stopped as the dragon knight in dragon form rumbled low in his throat. Volga lay coiled with his folded wings facing the entrance to the cavern and his head lay facing the mountain wall. With each step Link took, his rumbling became louder and stronger—Link felt the vibrations shake the earth around him—and the dragon knight began to uncoil himself. Raising and turning his head toward him, he bared his fangs and hissed in warning. Volga didn't want him here. He didn't want to be found, not now, not yet.

While there were plenty of times that Volga had wanted to be left alone, there were just as many times he needed help but was too stubborn to seek it, preferring to stoically sulk and shoulder all his problems. Even so, Volga was growling and snarling far too much at Link and when that wasn't enough, Volga swiped at him and roared, the force of which knocked Link to the ground but did not deter him.

As Volga backed away from him and pressed himself against the mountain wall, Link had no idea why he would be giving him so much warning to stay away. He seemed unharmed but he was breathing rapidly and his heart was visibly pounding against his dragonskin. While their allies wouldn't see a change, Link knew something was wrong. Volga didn't panic and Volga never backed away from anyone, especially Link. Link was relieved to see that he was all right and was glad that he had found him but he was confused and worried about Volga. Volga didn't act this way, like he couldn't trust himself around Link.

As the dragon knight opened his jaws, Link's eyes widened as the inside of Volga's mouth and throat glowed red. He dropped his lantern and rolled to the side just in time as Volga filled the mountain tunnel with fire. Before he could spread his flames throughout the cavern, Link scrambled to his feet and ran toward the dragon knight. Link was not afraid of Volga. He had no reason to fear him.

Leaping up and grabbing a hold of one of his horns, Link hugged his other arm underneath his neck and held on tightly as he leaned into Volga's view. There was nothing Link could do to keep Volga from swinging his head to the side and slamming him against the mountain. If he had his gauntlets, maybe Link could pin his head down but even then he wouldn't be safe. All he could do was hope his arm strength didn't fail him and that Volga was not forever lost in a blind panic of unknown origins.

As soon as Link peered into the dragon knight's eye, his slit vertical pupil shifted back and Volga stared at Link. Feeling the heat of his fire breath singe his exposed skin, Link grimaced but refused to let go, even as glowing cinders and blown ash flew into his face and wisps of smoke stole his breath. Gradually smothering his flames and closing his reservoir, Volga remained transfixed on Link. While the dragon knight did swing his head from side to side, it was not strong or fast enough to do anything more than sway Link along.

It would have been easier to communicate with Volga if he had brought Proxi along but Link had never really needed his fairy companion to talk to Volga. With his left arm still holding onto a horn, Link swept his right hand down along the dragon knight's neck. He rested his head beside Volga's eye, knowing that he could feel his press even if he could no longer see his face. There he laid dangling, uncertain if he could or would hang on if the dragon knight did not calm down and thrashed him.

It didn't matter to him what Volga had done or even why, not yet—not until he heard Volga's side. At this moment, all Link wanted was for Volga to come to his senses, for things to be right again between them before they were forced to face the aftermath of Volga's rampage and whatever that would entail.

Link smiled softly and rubbed circles against his upper jaw as Volga slowly crouched and laid down onto his stomach. He was still breathing heavily but the constant sight of Link gave him focus. As his scales grew hot and glowed, Link stepped down and backed away as Volga shifted into his human form with a burst of fire magic. As the energy dispersed, Volga was not the proud, roaring dragon knight. Volga sat slumped to the side on the ground and stared distantly into the earth, still lost in his racing thoughts.

Thinking that he had calmed down now that he had changed back into a human, Link's happiness faded and he hurried to the dragon knight's side. Link dropped to his knees and removed Volga's helmet. Sweat was pouring down the side of his face. To his complete shock, Volga grabbed him and pulled him into a crushing hug. Link winced and gasped in pain as he squeezed him closer and tighter while bending forward until he had crumpled over and around him. Volga buried his face into the crook of Link's neck and shoulder. His breath was hot and ragged.

When the dragon knight finally eased up, Link raised his head and filled his starved lungs with a deep breath of air. His eyes were wet, from both pain and Volga's palpable, overwhelming emotion. He asked Volga what had happened.

Volga could not answer him.

They sat in the belly of the mountain with only Link's flickering, fading lantern providing them light. Link wrapped his arms around the dragon knight's neck and the two held one another in silence as they felt and listened to one another's steady breaths.

"I can't go back. You know that," Volga said as he ran a trembling hand through Link's hair and pushed his green cap off the back of his head. "I'm sorry."

His voice cracked,"...I'm so sorry."

"Forgive me."


End file.
